This  book  is  from  the  private  library  of 

kOUIS    L.  ANGELL, 

of  Providence,  R.  I. 

His  friends  are  welcome  to  a  loan  of  it,  if  they 
can  use  it  "for  delight,  for  ornament,  or  for  ability.' 

His  friends  will  return  if,  and  promptly,  and  in 

A 
reasonably  i^ood  condition. 


.  m 


STATUE  OF  ROGER  WILLIAMS. 


SHORT  HISTORY 


OF 


EHODE  ISLAND, 


BY 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  GREENE,  LL.D., 

LATE  NOX-RKSIDKNT   PROFESSOR   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY  IN  CORNELL 

UNIVERSITY;  AUTHOR  OF   "THE  LIFE  OF  MAJOR-GENERAL 

NATHANAEL  GREENE;"  "HISTORICAL  VIEW  OF  THE 

AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


PROVIDENCE  : 

J.  A.  &  R.  A.  REID,  PUBLISHERS, 
1877. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877,  by 

ANNA  MARIA  GREENE, 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


TO 


MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

YOU  BEAK  YOUE  NINETY-THREE  YEARS  SO  LIGHTLY  THAT  I  INVITE  YOUR 
ATTENTION  TO  A  NEW  VOLUME  OF  MINE  WITH  AS  MUCH  ASSURANCE  OF  YOUR 
SYMPATHY  AS  WHEN  I  CROWED  AND  WONDERED  OVER  MY  FIRST  PICTURE 
BOOK.  AN  INFANT  ON  YOUR  KNEE.  FOR  YOUR  SYMPATHY  IS  AS  QUICK  AND 
A3  WARM  AS  IT  WAS  THEN,  AND  YOUR  MEMORY  GOES  BACK  WITH  UNERRING 
CERTAINTY  TO  THE  MEN  AND  THE  SCENES  OF  ALMOST  A  CENTURY  AGO. 
YOUR  EYES  HAVE  LOOKED  UPON  WASHINGTON,  AND  YOUR  TENACIOUS 
MEMORY  CAN  STILL  RECALL  THE  OUTLINE  OF  HIS  MAJESTIC  FORM. 

THE  FIRST  TIME  THAT  I  VENTURED  TO  SEND  FORTH  A  VOLUME  TO  THE 
WORLD,  I  SET  UPON  THE  DEDICATION  PAGE  THE  NAME  OF  MY  FATHER. 
HE  HAS  BEEN  DEAD  MANY  YEARS.  YOU  STILL  LINGER  BEHIND,  AND  LONG 

MAY  YOU  LINGER.  LONG  MAY  THOSE  FRESH  MEMORIES  WHICH  GIVE  SUCH 
A  CHARM  TO  YOUR  DAILY  LIFE  CONTINUE  TO  CHEER  YOU  AND  INSTRUCT 
THOSE  WHO  HAVE  THE  PRIVILEGE  OF  LIVING  WITH  YOU.  THEY  HAVE  SEEN 
LIFE  IMPERFECTLY  WHO  HAVE  NOT  SEEN  WHAT  A  CHARM  IT  WEARS  WHEN 
THE  HEAKT  THAT  HAS  BEAT  SO  LONG  STILL  LENDS  ITS  GENIAL  WARMTH  TO 
THE  STILL  INQUIRING  MIND. 

REVERENTIALLY  AND  AFFECTIONATELY  YOUR  SON, 

GEORGE  W.  GREENE. 


Preface. 


THERE  are  two  classes  of  history,  each  of  which  has  claims 
upon  our  attention  peculiarly  its  own.  One  is  a  sober  teacher, 
the  other  a  pleasant  companion.  One  opens  new  paths  of 
thought,  the  other  throws  new  light  upon  the  old,  and  both 
agree  in  making  man  the  chief  object  of  their  meditations. 

Nearly  two  thousand  years  ago  a  Roman  historian  likened 
the  life  of  his  country  to  the  life  of  man.  Time  has  confirmed 
the  parallel.  Nations,  like  men,  have  their  infancy  and  their 
youth,  their  robust  manhood  and  their  garrulous  old  age.  Their 
lives  like  the  lives  of  men  are  full  of  encouragement  and  of 
warning.  Interpret  them  aright  and  they  become  trusty  guides. 
Misapply  their  lessons  and  you  grope  in  the  dark  and  stumble 
at  every  step. 

And  both  states  and  men  have  their  special  duties  and  were 
created  for  special  ends.  The  God  that  made  them  assigned  to 
each  its  problem,  and  to  work  this  out  is  to  work  out  His  will. 
Of  this  problem  history  is  the  record  and  the  interpreter.  It 
tells  us  what  man  has  been,  and  thereby  aids  us  to  divine  what 
he  yet  may  be. 

If  with  the  philosopher  history  reveals  the  laws  of  life,  with 
the  poet  she  recalls  the  past  and  stirs  human  sympathies  in 
their  profoundest  depths.  Man  follows  man  on  her  checkered 
stage ;  nations  rise  and  fall ;  mysteries  enchain  us ;  imagination 
controls  us;  reason  guides  us;  conscience  admonishes  and 


vi  PEEFACE. 

warns;  and  first  and  foremost  of  all  our  stimulants  to  action  is 
our  sympathy  with  our  fellow-man. 

I  have  attempted  in  the  following  pages  to  tell  what  the  part 
of  Rhode  Island  has  been  in  this  great  drama.  A  talent  was 
entrusted  to  her.  Did  she  wrap  it  in  a  napkin? 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  accurate  and  exhaustive 
work  of  Governor  Arnold,  it  will  be  needless  to  say  that  but  for 
the  aid  of  his  volumes,  mine  would  never  have  been  written. 

GEORGE  W.  GREENE. 

WINDMILL  COTTAGE, 
East  Greenwich,  R.  I.,  April  8th,  1877. 


JUmltjtical  table. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CONDITION  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  BAT  AND  PLY- 
MOUTH COLONIES. — ARRIVAL  AND  BANISHMENT  OF  ROGER 

WILLIAMS. 

Page. 

The  religious  sentiment  connected  with  the  found- 
ation of  states,     .  .  .  .1 

Resistance  to  the  doctrine  of  theocracy  occa- 
sioned the  settlement  of  Rhode  Island,  .      2 
1631.       Ship  Lyon  arrived  at  Boston,  bringing  Roger 

Williams,  .  .  .  .2 

Early  life  of  Williams,     ...  2 

Massachusetts  in  possession  of  two  distinct  colo- 
nies, ....  3 

In  Massachusetts  Colony  the  clergy  were  virtu- 
ally rulers,  and  they  were  extremely  rigid,          3 

Disputes  between  Williams  and  the  authorities 
of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  .  4 

Removal  of  Williams  to  Plymouth,      .  .      4 

Williams  makes  friendship  with  Massasoit  and 
Miantonomi,  ...  5 

Learns  the  Indian  language,  .  -      5 

Williams  returns  to  Salem,  .  .  5 

1635.       He  is  persecuted  and  finally  banished,  .      6 

Articles  of  banishment,  ...  6 

CHAPTER  II. 

SUFFERINGS  OF  ROGER  WILLIAMS  IN  THE  WILDERNESS. — 
FOUNDS  A  SETTLEMENT  ON  THE  SEEKONK  RIVER. — IS  AD- 
VISED TO  DEPART.— SEEKS  OUT  A  NEW  PLACE  WHICH  HE 
CALLS  PROVIDENCE. 

Attempt  to  send  Williams  to  England,  .      7 

His  flight, 

He  is  fed  by  the  Indians,         .  .  .8 


Vlll  ANALYTICAL   TABLE. 

Page. 

He  is  given  land  on  the  Seekonk  River  by  Mas- 
soit  and  starts  a  settlement.  .  .  8 

He  receives  a  friendly  letter  from  the  Governor 
of  Plymouth  asking  him  to  remove,  .  9 

He  starts  with  five  companions  in  a  canoe  to 
find  a  place  for  a  settlement,  and  finally 
lands  at  Providence,  .  .  .9 

CHAPTER  III. 

WILLIAMS  OBTAINS  A  GRANT  OF  LAND  AND  FOUNDS  A  COLONY. 
— FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  COLONY. — WILLIAMS  GOES 
TO  ENGLAND  TO  OBTAIN  A  ROYAL  CHARTER. 

Early  inhabitants  of  Rhode  Island,  .  .  11 

Williams  makes  peace  between  Canonicus  and 

Massasoit.  .  .  .  .12 

He  receives  a  grant  of  land  from  Canonicus  and 

begins  a  settlement,  .  .  .12 

Compact  of  the  colonists  at  Providence,  .  13 

Experiment  of  separation  of  church  from  state 

tried  in  the  new  Colony,  .  .  13 

The  right  of  suffrage  not  regarded  as  a  natural 

right.     Illustrated  by  Joshua  Verin  and  his 

wife.       .  .  .  .  .14 

1639.  The  first  church  founded  in  Providence,  .  15 

Five  select  men  appointed  to  govern  the  Colony, 

subject  to  the  action  of  the  Monthly  Town 

Meeting,  .  .  .  .15 

Massachusetts  Colony  applied  for  a  new  charter 

to  cover  the  land  occupied  by  Providence,     .     15 

1643.  Providence  in  connection  with  Aquidneck  and 

Warwick  sent  Williams  to  England  to  obtain 
a  Royal  charter,          ...  15 

1644.  Williams  returns  in  1644   successsful,   and    is 

received  with  exultation,         .  .  16 

CHAPTER  IV. 

SETTLEMENT  OF  AQCIDNECK  AND  WARWICK.— PEQUOT  WAR. — 
DEATH   OF   MIANTONOMI. 

1637.       Anna  Hutchin.son  arrived  in  Massachusetts  and 

banished,      ....  17 


ANALYTICAL   TABLE.  IX 

Page. 

Nineteen  of  her  followers  under  William  Cod- 

dington    and   John    Clarke,   purchased    the 

Island  of  Aquidneck  and  formed  settlements 

at  Pocasset  and  Xewport,          .  .  17 

Roger  Williams  proclaimed  the  right  of  religious 

liberty  to  every  human  being,  .  18 

Samuel  Gorton  banished  from  Pocasset,  .     19 

He  denied  the  authority  of  all  government  ex- 
cept that  authorized  by  the  King  and  Parlia- 
ment, ....  19 
He,  with  eleven  others,  bought  Shawomet  and 

settled  there,  ...  19 

He  is  besieged  by  troops  from  Massachusetts, 
is  captured,  imprisoned,  and  afterwards  re- 
leased,  .  .  .  .  .19 
He  is  appointed  to  a  magistracy  in  Aquidneck,    19 
Roger  Williams  prevented  the  alliance)  of  the 
Pequots  and  Xarragansetts,  and  formed  one 
between  the  English  and  the  Narragansetts,     21 
Pequots  rooted  out  and  crushed,                  .  21 
Miantonomi  treacherously  put  to  death,1!             .     22 
The  Narragansetts  put  themselves  under  the 
protection  of  the  English.                 .               .    22 


CHAPTER  V. 

CHARTER  GRANTED  TO  PROVIDENCE  PLANTATIONS.— ORGAN- 
IZATION UNDER  IT. — THE  LAWS  ADOPTED. 

1643.       The  charter  granted  to  Providence  Plantations,     23 
Provisions  of  the  charter,        .  .  .23 

1647.  The  corporators  met  at  Portsmouth  and  in  a 
general  assembly  accepted  the  charter,  and 
proceeded  to  organize  under  it,  .  24 

The'government  declared  to  be  democratical,    .    24 
President  and  other  officers  chosen,  .  25 

Description  of  the  code  of  laws,  .  .    25 

Design  for  a  seal  adopted,  .  .  26 

Roger   Williams   presented  with  one  hundred 

pounds  for  services  in  obtaining  the  charter,     26 
Spirit  of  the  law,       .  .  .  .27 


X  ANALYTICAL  TABLE. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

FOREIGN  AND   DOMESTIC  TROUBLES.— UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT 

AT  USURPATION   BY  CODDINGTON. 

P*Ze. 

Death  of  Canonicus,  .  .  .  i>S 
Possibility  of  the  doctrine  of  soul  liberty  demon- 
strated, ,N  .  .  .  fl 
Dissensions  among  the  colonists,  .  .  29 
Troubles  with  Massachusetts.  .  .  29 
Baptists  persecuted  in  Massachusetts.  .  30 

1651.  Coddington   obtained    a    royal   commission  as 

Governor  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut 
for  life,  which  virtually  dissolved  the  first 
charter,  .  .  .  .30 

Roger  Williams  sent  to  England  to  ask  for  a 
confirmation  of  the  charter,  .  .  31 

John  Clarke,  also,  sent  to  ask  for  a  revocation 
of  Coddington's  commission,  .  .  31 

1652.  Slaves  not  allowed  to  be  held  in  bondage  longer 

than  ten  years.  .  .  .32 

Commerce  with  the  Dutch  of  Manhattan  inter- 
rupted by  war  between  England  and  Holland.     32 
Coddington's  commission  revoked  and  the  first 
charter  restored,  .  .  .32 

CHAPTER  VII. 

MORE  FOREIGN  AND  DOMESTIC  TROUBLES.  —  CIVIL  AND 
CRIMINAL  REGULATIONS  OF  THE  COLONY.— ARRIVAL  OF 
QUAKERS. 

Conscience  claimed  as  the  rule  of  action  in  civil 
as  well  as  religious  matters,  .  .  33 

Contentions  between  the  Island  and  the  main- 
land towns.    .  .  .  .34 
1654.       Court  of  Commissioners  met  and  effected  a  re- 
union in  the  Colony,     .                .                .34 

Attempts  of  the  United  Colonies  to  make  war  on 
the  Narragansetts,  but  they  failed,  as  Wil- 
liams had  influenced  Massasoit  not  to  sanc- 
tion it.  .  .  .  .35 

Qualification  of  citizenship,     .  .  .36 


ANALYTICAL   TABLE.  xi 

Page. 

Duties  of  citizenship  ascendant  over  dignity  of 

office,     .  .  .  .  .37 

Protection  of  marriage,       .  .  .38 

The  Pawtuxet  controversy  settled  by  acknowl- 
edgement of  the  claims  of  Rhode  Island,          .    38 
Fort  built  for  protection  against  Indians,     .  39 

Quakers   arrived.     Difference    of  treatment  of 
them  between  Ehode  Island  and  Massachu- 
setts,      .  .  .  .  .39 
1663.       A  new  charter  granted  by  Charles  II.  and  ac- 
cepted by  the  colonists,            .            .  .40 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

TROUBLES  IN  OBTAINING  A  NEW  CHARTER. — PROVISIONS  OF 
THE  CHAKTER.— DIFFICULTIES  CONCERNING  THE  NARRA- 
GANSETT  PURCHASE.— CURRENCY.— SCHOOLS. 

The  new  charter  gave  a  democratic  government,    41 
Some  of  its  provisions.     .  .  .41 

Religious  liberty  recognized  by  it,         .  .    42 

Assembly  and  courts  reorganized,  .  43 

State  magistrates  chosen  by  the  freemen,  .    44 

Jealousy  ot  Massachusetts,  .  .  44 

Trouble  concerning  the  ownership  of  Narragan- 

sett,  .  .  .  .45 

Attempt  to  dispossess  Rhode  Island  of  part  of 

her  territory,  .  .  .46 

The  Narragansetts  compelled  to  mortgage  their 

lands  to  the  United  Colonies,     .  .  47 

New  charter  obtained  by  Connecticut  extending 

its  bounds  to  the  Narragansett  River,      .  48 

1663.       The  boundary  line  left  to  arbitrators  who  fix  it 

at  the  Pawcatuck  River,  .  .  49 

The  intrigues  of  John  Scott  for  the  purchase  of 

the  Narragansett  tract,  .  .  49 

Letter  obtained  from  the  King,  putting  the  Nar- 
ragansett purchase  under  protection  of  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Connecticut,  .  .    50 
This  was  rendered  null  by  the  second  charter  of 

Rhode  Island  grant  soon  afterward.  .     51 

Wampum  used  as  money  in  the  Colony,       .  52 


Xll  ANALYTICAL   TABLE. 

Page. 

Also  used  as   an  article  of  ornament  by  the 

natives,  .  .  .  .52 

1652.       Massachusetts  began  to  coin  silver  in  1652,        .    53 
Rhode  Island  abolished  the  use  of  wampum  ten 
years  later,  .  .  .  .53 

1662.  New  England  shilling  made   legal  tender    in 

Rhode  Island,      .  .  .  .53 

1640-1663.  First  schools  established    at    Providence    and 

Newport,  .  .  .  .53 

Affirmation  is  declared  to  be  equal  to  an  oath,        54 

CHAPTER  IX. 

TERRITORr  OP  RHODE  ISLAND  IS  INCREASED  BY  THE  AD- 
DITION OP  BLOCK  ISLAND. — DISPUTES  BETWEEN  RHODE 
ISLAND  AND  THE  OTHER  COLONIES  SETTLED  BT  ROYAL 
COMMAND. — STATE  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  THE  COLONY  IN  1667. | 

1663.  Block  Island  added  to  Rhode  Island,   .  .    55 
[Regulations  concerning  its  admission,          .  56 

It  is  incorporated  under  the  name  of  New  Shore- 
ham,  .  .  .  .56 

Four  Commissioners  sent  to  America  to  reduce 
the  Dutch  and  settle  all  questions  of  appeal 
between  the  colonies,  .  .  .57 

The  vexed  questions  of  boundary  line  between 
Rhode  Island  and  Plymouth ;  the  Narragan- 
sett  question  and  Warwick  difficulties  referred 
to  the  Commissioners,  who  referred  the  first 
to  the  King  and  decided  the  second  in  favor 
of  Rhode  Island,  .  .  .57 

The  Indians  removed  from  King's  Province,  59 

Five  propositions  submitted  by  the  Commis- 
sioners to  the  Rhode  Island  Assembly,  .  59 

1st.  All  householders  should  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  King,  .  .  59 

2d.    Mode  of  admitting  freemen,  .  .     59 

3d.  Admission  to  the  sacrament  open  to  all 
well  disposed  persons,  .  .  .60 

4th.  All  laws  and  resolves  derogatory  to  the 
King  repealed,  .  .  .60 

5th.    Provisions  for  self-defence,  .  .  60 


ANALYTICAL   TABLE.  Xlll 

Page. 

1672.       Trouble  with  John  Paine  concerning  Prudence 

Island,  .  .  .  .62 

Members  of  the  Assembly  to  be  paid  for  their 

services,         .  .  .  .63 

Financial  difficulties  in  the  Colony,       .  .    64 

1667.       Preparations  for  defence  against  the  French,          64 

1672.       Act  passed  to  facilitate  the  collection  of  taxes,  .    65 

CHAPTER  X. 

\ 

KING  PHILIP'S  WAR.  ' 

Wamsutta  summoned  before  the  General  Court 

at  Plymouth,                 .                .  .67 

His  death,                  .                .                .  .67 

Indignation    of  the    Indians,  especially  King 

Philip,    .                .                .                .  .68 

Condition  of  the  Indians,                  .  .            68 

Attack  on  Svvanzey,                .               .  .69 

The  Indians  pursued  l>y  the  English.  .            69 
Philip   and  his  allies  beseiged  in   a  swamp  at 

Pocasset,       .               .               .  .71 

His  escape,                .               .               .  .71 

The  Indian  attack  on  Hadley.        .  .            71 

Goft'e.  the  regicide,      .            .                .  .72 

Philip  joined  the  Narragansetts,    .  .            72 

Battle  in  the  swamp,                .               .  »    73 
Indians  defeated,  and  their  village  destroyed,          74 

Depredations  in  Rhode  Island,               .  .75 

Death  of  Canonchet,         .                .  .76 

Death  of  Philip  and  end  of  the  war,         .  .     77 

Condition  of  the  country  after  the  war,  .            77 

CHAPTER  XI. 

INDIANS    STILL  TROUBLESOME.— CONDITION  OF   THE  PEOPLE.— 
TROUBLESjCONCERNING   THE  BOUNDARY  LINES. 

Precautions  against  the  Indians,  .  .  78 

Troubles  with  Connecticut  concerning  Narragan- 

sett,         ...  jf.  79 

Two  agents  sent  to  England.          .  .  80 


XIV  ANALYTICAL   TABLE. 

Page. 

War  party  obtains  power.       .  .  .80 

Foundation  of  East  Greenwich,.     .  .  82 

Bitter   controversy  concerning  the   limits  and 
extent  of  the  Providence  and  Pawtuxet  pur- 
chase,    .  .  .  .  .82 
1596-1712.  Settled  in  1696  and  1712,                 .               .  83 

CHAPTER  XII. 

DEATH  OF  SEVERAL   OF  THE  MOST  PROMINENT  MEN.— 
CHANGES   IX  LEGISLATION. 

TheUnited  Colonies  still  encroached  upon  Rhode 
Island,  ....  84 

Deaths  of  John  Clarke,  Roger  Williams,  Samuel 
Gorton,  William  Harris,  and  William  Cod- 
dington,  .  .  .  .85 

1678.  Financial  condition  of  the  Colony  in  1678,     .  88 
Changes  in  the  usages  of  election,        .               .    89 
Bankrupt  law  passed  and  afterwards  repealed,    89 
Law  concerning  disputed  titles  to  lands,             .     90 

1679.  Law  for  the  protection  of  servants,  .  91 
Law  for  the  protection  of  sailors,          .               .     91 
John  Clawson's  curse.      .               .               .92 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

COURTS   AND  ARMY   STRENGTHENED.  — COMMISSIONERS    SENT 
FROM   ENGLAND.— CHARTER  REVOKED. 

Disputes  concerning  the  title  of  Potowomut,      .    93 

1680.  Power  of   the  town    to  reject  or  accept  new 

citizens,  .  .  .  .93 

Efficiency  of  the  courts  increased,  .  94 

English  navigation  act  injures  the  commercial 

interests  of  the  Colony,  p.  .  95 

Commissioners  appointed  to  settle  the  vexed 

question  of  the  King's  Province,  .  96 

Rhode  Island's  position  in  New  England  hi  re- 
gard to  the  other  colonies,          .  .  96 
Trouble  with  the  Commissioners,          .                .     97 
Charter  revoked,               .               .               .98 
Rhode  Island  returned  to  its  original  form  of 
government,                 .               .               .98 


ANALYTICAL  TABLE.  XV 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

CHANGES  IN  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT. — SIR  EDMOND  ANDROS 
APPOINTED  GOVERNOR.— HE  OPPRESSES  THE  COLONISTS 

AND  IS  FINALLY   DEPOSED. 

Page. 

John  Greene  sent  to  England  with  an  address  to 

the  King  for  the  preservation  of  the  charter,  100 
Changes  in  the  names  and  the  boundaries  of 

Kingston,  Westerly  and  East  Greenwich,  .  101 
1687.  Arrival  of  Sir  Edmond  Andros,  .  .  101 

Taxes  farmed  out,  ....  102 
Marriages  made  illegal  unless  performed  by  the 

rites  of  the  English  Church,  .  .  103 

Passport  system  introduced,  .  .  103 

Composition  of  the  council,  .  .  .  103 

Andros's  commission  enlarged,  .  .  105 

The  press  subjected  to  the  will  of  the  Governor,  105 
Title  of  Bhode  Island  to  King's  Province  again 

confirmed,  ....  106 

Persecution  of  the  Huguenots,  .  .  107 

Andros  deposed,  ....  107 

CHAPTER  XV. 

CHARTER  GOVERNMENT  AGAIN  RESUMED. — FRENCH  WAR.— 
INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.— CHARGES  AGAINST  THE  COL- 
ONIES. 

Chief-Justice    Dudley    attempted    to    open  his 

court,  he  is  seized  and  imprisoned,  .  .  108 

Return  of  the  old  form  of  government,         .          108 
Legality  of  resumption  confirmed  by  the  King,  109 
1G90.       The  Assembly  reorganized,  .  .          110 

Town  house  built,     .  .  .  .111 

The  colonists  taxed  to  sustain  the  French  and 

Indian  war,  ....  112 

Coast  invaded  by  French  privateers,  .          112 

New  taxes  levied,  ....  113 
Small-pox  broke  out  in  the  Colony,  .  113 

1091 .  Sir  William  Phipps  appointed  Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts with  command  over  all  the  forces 
of  New  England,  .  •  •  114 


Xvi  ANALYTICAL   TABLED 

Page. 

This  command  over  the  forces  of  Rhode  Island 

restricted  to  time  of  war.    .  .  .  115 

1693.       First  mail  line  established  between  Boston  and 

Virginia,  .  .  .  .116 

State  officers  to  be  paid  a  regular  salary,     .          116 
Assembly  divided  into  two  houses,       .  .  116 

Indians  still  troublesome.  .  ,          117 

Courts  of  A'dmiralty  established  in  the  Colony,  .   117 
1697-1698.  Trouble  from  enemies  to  the  charter  govern- 
ment,     .....  117 
Interests  of  trade  fostered,  .  .          118 

Smuggling  common,  .  .  .  118 

Charges  made  against  the  Colony  by  the  Royal 

Governor,  .  .  .  .119 

Captain  Kidd,     .  .  .  .119 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

COLONIAL  PROSPERITY. — DIFFICULTIES  OCCASIONED  BY  THK 
WAR  WITH  THE  FRENCH. — DOMESTIC  AFFAIRS  OF  THE 
COLONY. 

1702.       Prosperity  of  the  Colony,        .  .  .120 

Providence  the  second  town  in  the  Colony.  120 

Religious  freedom.    .  .  .  .120 

Attempt  to  establish  a  Vice-Royalty  over  the 

Colonies,  .  .  .  .122 

1701.  Better  Laws  enacted,       .  .  .123 

1702.  Preparations  for  defence.        .  .  .123 

1703.  Boundary  line  between  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 

necticut finally  settled.  .  .  124 
The  character  and  interest  of  the  Colony  misun- 
derstood by  England.  .  .  124 
French  privateer  captured.  -  .  .  12.i 
Further  acts  of  the  Assembly,  .  .  126 
Slave  trade.  .  .  ,  .127 

1708.  First  census  taken,            .                .  .          127 
Public  auctions  first  held.        .                .  .  12S 
Commercial  and  agricultural  progress.  .          128 

1709.  First  printing  press  set  up  at  Newport,  .  129 
Internal  improvements,    .               .  .          130 


ANALYTICAL   TABLE.  XV11 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

PAPER  MONEY  TROUBLES. — ESTABLISHMENT  OP  BANKS.— PRO- 
TECTION OF  HOME  INDUSTRIES.— PROPERTY  QUALIFICA- 
TIONS FOR  SUFFRAGE. 

Page. 

Issue  of  paper  money,  .  .  .  131 

Clerk  of  the  Assembly  first  elected  from  outside 

the  House,  .  .  .  .131 

Arts  of  peace  resumed,     .  .  .          132 

New  militia  laws  enacted,       .  .  .  132 

Laws  concerning  trade,   .  .  .          133 

Troubles  occasioned  by  paper  money,  .  134 

1715.  Banks  established  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 

Island,    .                                                .  134 

Paper  money  question  carried  into  election,  134 

Improvements  in  Newport,     .               .  .  136 

Criminal  code,                  .               .               .  136 

1716.  School-houses  built  in  Portsmouth,      .  .  136 
Punishment  of  slander,    .               .               .  137 
Indian  lands  taken  under  the  protection  of  (he 

Colony,  .  .  .  .  .137 

Law  concerning  intestates,  .  .          137 

1719.       First  edition  of  the  laws  printed,  .  .  138 

Boundary  troubles,  .  .  .          138 

Industry  of  the  Colony  protected  by  loans  and 

bounties,        ....          138 

1724.       Freehold  act  passed,  .  .  .  139 

1723.       Pirate  captured,  .  .  .139 

Evidences  of  the  progress  of  the  Colony,  .  139 

Death  of  Governor  Cranston,          .  .          141 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CHANGE  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE. — ACTS  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY.— 
GEORGE  BERKELEY'S  RESIDENCE  IN  NEWPORT.— FRIENDLY 
FEELING  BETWEEN  THE  COLONISTS  AND  THE  MOTHER 

COUNTRY. 

New  Governor  elected,     .  .  .          142 

State  of  affairs  in  England,     .  .  .,142 

1728.       Revision  of  the  criminal  code,        .  .          143 


ANALYTICAL    TABLE. 

Page. 

Laws  for  the  encouragement  and  regulation  of 
trade.      .  .  .  .  .144 

1727.       Earthquake,       .  .  .  .145 

1723-1724.  Division  of  the  Colony  into  counties.  .  146 

George  Berkeley,  .  .  .          146 

Establishment  of  Redwood  Library,     .  .  147 

Laws  concerning  charitable  institutions.  Quakers 

and  Indians,         ....  147 

1730.  New  census  taken,  .  .  .          148 

1731.  New  bank  voted,      .  .  .  .149 
Commercial  prosperity,   .               .               .          149 
New  edition  of  the  laws  published,       .               .  149 
Fisheries  encouraged.       .               .               .          150 
Regulation  concerning  election.            .                .  150 
William  Wanton  chosen  Governor,               .          152 
Depreciation  of  paper  money.               ,               .  152 

1733.       Marriage  laws.  .               .               .  .152 

John  Wanton  chosen  Governor,  .               .  153 

Watchfulness  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  .          153 

1735-1736.  Throat  distemper.        .            .  .               .154 

Law  against  bribery  at  elections,  .          164 

Arrival  of  his  Majesty's  ship  Tartar,  .                .  155 

Means  of  protection  against  fire,    .  .          155 

CHAPTER  XLX. 

WAB    WITH    SPAIN. — NEW    TAXES    LEVIED    BY    ENGLAND.— RE- 
LIGIOUS AWAKENING  AMONG   THE  BAPTISTS. 

Preparation  for  war  against  the  Spaniards,        .  156 
Great    expedition    against    the    Spanish    West 
Indies.    .  .  .        .  .          157 

New  taxes  levied  on  importations  by  England,  157 
Death  of  Governor  Wanton,  who  is  succeeded 
by  Richard  Ward.  .  ...  158 

Arrival  of  Whitefield  and  Fothergill,  .          159 

Further  provisions  for  the  defence  of  the  Colony.  159 
Report  of  the  Governor  concerning  paper  money.  160 
1741.       Boundary  line  between  Rhode  Island  and  Mas- 
sachusetts settled.          .  .  .        161 


ANALYTICAL  TABLE.  XIX 

CHAPTER  XX. 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  THE  FRENCH.— CHANGE  IN  THE 
JURISDICTION  OF  THE  COURTS. — SENSE  OF  COMMON  INTER- 
EST DEVELOPING  AMONG  THE  COLONISTS.  —  LOUISBURG 

CAPTURED. 

Pag*. 

Privateers  fitted  out,  .  .  .162 

1741.       James  Greene  started  an  iron  works,  .          162 

Changes  of  the  jurisdictions  of  the  courts,  163 

Encroachments  of  Connecticut,      .  .          163 

1741.       Newport  Artillery  chartered,  .  .  165 

Counterfeit  bills  troublesome,         .  .          164 

1744.       Lotteries  legalized,  .  .  .  166 

Rhode  Island's  part  in   the  capture  of  Louis- 
burg,  .  .  .  .165 
Death  of  Colonel  John  Cranston,          .  .  166 
Two  privateers  and  two  hundred  men  lost,          166 
Sense  of  common  interest  and  mutual  depend- 
ence gaining  ground,          .                .                .  166 
Caution  against  fraudulent  voting,                .          167 
Disaster  to  the  French  armada,             .               .  168 

1746.       Close  of  the  campaign.     .  .  .          168 

Accession  of  territory,  .  .  .  168 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

ATTEMPT  TO  RETURN  TO  SPECIE  PAYMENTS.— CHANGES  IN  THE 
REQUIREMENTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP. — NEW  COUNTIES  AND 
TOWNS  FORMED. — FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR. — WARD  AND 
HOPKINS  CONTEST.— ESTABLISHMENT  OF  NEWSPAPERS. 

1748.       Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,       .  .  .170 

Hutchinson's  scheme  for  returning  to  specie  pay- 
ment rejected  by  Rhode  Island,  .          171 
Act  against  swearing  revised,  .  172 
Provisions  concerning  legal  residence,         .          172 
New  census  taken,     ....  172 
1748-1749.  Death  of  John  Callender,                 .                .          173 
Beaver  Tail  Light  built,                           .  .  173 
Troubles  from  depreciation  of  currency,      .          173 

1754.       First  divorce  granted,  .  .  .  174 

Kent  County  formed,        .  .  .          174 


XX  ANALYTICAL    TABLE. 

Page. 

1752.  Gregorian  calendar  adopted,  .  .  .  175 
Troubles  concerning  the  Narragansett  land  set- 
tled,                       ....  175 

1753.  First  patent  granted  in  the  Colony  for  making 

potash,    .....  175 
Fellowship  Club  founded — afterwards  the  New- 
port Marine  Society,                  .                .          .  176 

1754.  Commissioners  sent  to  the  Albany  Congress,  176 
French  and  Indian  war,           .                .                .  177 
French  settlers  imprisoned,             .                .  178 
Ward  and  Hopkins  contest,      .                .                .  178 
Providence  court  house  and  library  burned,  179 
David  Douglass  built  a  theatre  at  Providence,  .  180 

1758.  Newport  Mercury  established,        .  .          180 
1762.       Providence  Gazette  established,             .  .180 

Writs  of  assistance  first  called  for,                .  181 

1759.  Death  of  Richard  Partridge,   .  .181 
Freemasonry  first  introduced  into  the  Colony,  181 
Regulations  concerning  fires,                .  .  181 
Towns  of  Hopkinton  and  Johnston  formed,  182 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

RETROSPECT.  —  ENCROACHMENTS  OF  ENGLAND.  —  RESISTANCE 
TO  THE  REVENUE  LAWS.— STAMP  ACT.— SECOND  CONGRESS 
OF  COLONIES  MET  AT  NEW  YORK. — EDUCATIONAL  INTEREST. 

Resume  of  the  progress  of  the  Colony,  .  1S3 

Reason  for  the  enactment  of  the  laws,          .          184 

Rhode  Island's  solution  of  the  problem  of  self- 
government  and  soul-liberty,  .          .  1S5 

Encroachments  of  England  on  the  liberties  of 
the  colonies,  ....  186 

War  had  taught  the  colonies  a  much  needed 
lesson,      .....  187 

Harbor  improvements,      .  .  188 

Parliament  votes  men  and  money  for  the  defence 
of  the  American  colonies,          ..  .          188 

Restrictions  of  commerce,       .  .  .  189 

1764.       Molasses  and  sugar  act  renewed  and  extended,  1S9 

Resistance  to  the  enforcement  of  the  obnoxious 
revenue  laws,  .  .  190 

Action  of  the  colonies  in  regard  to  the  stamp 
act.  191 


ANALYTICAL   TABLE.  XXI 

Page. 

England  is  obliged  to  repeal  the  stamp  act,  .  193 
Resistance  to  impressment,  .  .  193 

1765.  Second  Colonial  Congress  met  at  New  York  and 
issued  addresses  to  the  people,  Parliament, 
and  to  the  King,  .  .  .  194 

New  digest  of  the  laws  completed  and  printed,  195 
1766.  Free  schools  established  at  Providence,  .  196 

Brown  University  founded,  .  .          196 

Iron  mine  discovered,  .  .  .  197 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

TRANSIT  OF  VENUS.— A  STRONG  DISLIKE  TO  ENGLAND  MORE 
OPENLY  EXPRESSED.— NON-IMPORTATION  AGREEMENT. — IN- 
TRODUCTION OF  SLAVES  PROHIBITED. — CAPTURE  OP  THE 
GASPEE. 

Collision  between  British  officers  and  citizens,  .  199 
Dedication  of  liberty  trees,  .  .  199 

Laws  concerning  domestic  interests,  .  .  199 

Transit  of  Venus,  .  .  .200 

Armed  resistance  to  England  more  openly  talked 

of,  .  .  .  .  .201 

Scuttling  of  the  sloop-of-war  Liberty,  .  .  202 

Non-importation  of  tea  agreed  to.  .  .  203 

Prosperity  of  Newport,  .  .  .  203 

First  Commencement  at  Rhode  Island  College,  204 
1770.  Further  introduction  of  slaves  prohibited,  .204 

Governor  Hutchinson  advanced  a  claim  for  the 

command  of  the  Rhode  Island  militia,  .  205 

Evidence  of  justice  in  Rhode  Island,  .  206 

Capture  and  destruction  of  the  schooner  Gaspee,  207 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

PROPOSITION  FOR  THE  UNION  OF  THE  COLONIES.  —  ACTIVE 
MEASURES  TAKEN  LOOKING  TOWARDS  INDEPENDENCE. — 
DELEGATES  ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS. — DESTRUCTION  OF  TEA 
AT  PROVIDENCE. — TROOPS  RAISED. — POSTAL  SYSTEM  ES- 
TABLISHED.— DEPREDATIONS  OF  THE  BRITISH. — "GOD  SAVE 
THE  UNITED  COLONIES." 

1774.       Limitation  of  negro  slavery,    .  .  210 

Resolution  recommending  the  union  of  the  col- 
onies passed  at  Providence  town  meeting,      .  210 

B* 


XXU  ANALYTICAL   TABLE. 

Page. 

1774.       Boston  port  bill  passed,    .  211 

Small-pox  at  Newport.  .  211 

Indication  of  popular  indignation,  212 

Activity  of  Committees  of  Correspondence.  212 

Publishment  of  the  Hutcbinsou  letters.         .          213 
Franklin  removed  from  his  position  as  superin- 
tendent of  American  post-offices,  .          214 
1774.       General  Gage  entered  Boston  as  Governor,  215 
Sympathy   of  Rhode  Island  for  Boston;  East 

Greenwich  the  first  to  open  a  subscription,     .  215 
Hopkins  and  Ward  elected  delegates   to  Con- 
gress,         .  .  ...  216 
1774.       Congress  met  in  Philadelphia ;  adopted  a  declar- 
ation of  rights;  recommended  the  formation 
of  an  American  Association,    ..  .          217 
Distribution  of  arms,                .               .  .  218 
Exportation  of  sheep  stopped ;  manufacture  of 

fire-arms  begun,    ....  219 
Tea  burnt  at  Providence,  219 

Troops  started  for  Boston.       .  .  219 

Army  of  Observation  formed  with  Xathanael 

Greene,  commander,  .  .  .  220 

Ehode  Island  troops  on  Jamaica  Plains,      .          221 
k  Articles  of  war  passed.  .  221 

Capture  of  a  British  vessel  b\~  Captain  Abraham 

Whipple,  .  .221 

Rhode  Island  Navy  founded,  222 

William   Goddard's    postal    system    went    into 

operation,       .  .  .  222 

Colony  put  upon  a  war  footing,  .  223 

Bristol  bombarded  and  the  coast  of  Rhode  Island 

plundered.  .  .  224 

Part  of  the  debt  of  Rhode  Island  assumed  by 

Congress  as  a  war  debt,      .  .  .  225 

Rhode  Island  in  the  expedition  against  Quebec,  226 
Depredation  of  the  British  squadron.    .  .  226 

Battle  on  Prudence  Island,  227 

Evacuation  of  Boston, 

Death  of  Samuel  Ward.     .  228 

The  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  renounced  their 
allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  .          228 


ANALYTICAL   TABLE.  XX111 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

RHODE  ISLAND  BLOCKADED.— DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 
INDORSED  BY  THE  '  ASSEMBLY.  —  NEW  TROOPS  RAISED.— 
FRENCH  ALLIANCE. — UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT  TO  DRIVE  THE 

BRITISH  FROM  RHODE  ISLAND. 

Page. 

Islands  and  waters  of  Rhode  Island  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  British,  .  .  .  229 
Quota  of  Rhode  Island,  .  .  -230 
Inoculation  introduced,  .  .  .  231 
Treatment  of  Tories  .  .  231 
Declaration  of  Independence  indorsed  by  the 

Assembly,     .  .  .  .  232 

Rhode  Island's  part  in  the  Continental  Navy,       232 
Convention  of  Eastern  States  to  form   a  con- 
certed plan  of  action,     .  .  .          233 
Financial  troubles,     ....  234 
Regiment  of  negroes  raised,           .  .          234 
1778.       Tidings  of  the  French  alliance  received,  .235 
Expedition  against  Bristol  and  Warren,       .          235 
Attempt  to  drive  the  British  from  Rhode  Island 
rendered  unsuccessful  by  a  terrible  storm, 
and  jealousy  among  the  officers  of  the  French 
fleet,                 .               .               .               .236 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ACTS  OF  THE  BRITISH  TROOPS.— DISTRESS   IN  RHODE  ISLAND. — 
EVACUATION  OF   NEWPORT. — REPUDIATION.— END    OF  THE 
WAR. 

Disappointment  of  the  Americans,         .  .  241 

Wanton  destruction  of  life  and  property  by  the 

British,     .  ...  241 

Pigot  galley  captured  by  Talbot,  .  .  242 

Scarcity  of  food  in  Rhode  Island,  .  .          242 

Steuben's  tactics  introduced  into  the  army,         .  244 
Difficulty  in  raising  money,  .          244 

British  left  Newport.  .  .  .  245 

Town  records  carried  off  by  the  British,      .          246 
Repudiation  of  debt,  .  .  .247 

Rhode  Island's  quota.        .  .  .          248 


ANALYTICAL   TABLE. 

Page. 

Preparations  for  quartering  and  feeding  the 
troops,  .  .  249 

An  English  fleet  of  sixteen  ships  menaced  the 
Rhode  Island  coast,  .  .  .  250 

Assembly  met  at  Newport  ;  the  first  time  in 
four  years,  .  250 

1781.  End  of  the  war,  .  251 
The  federation  completed,  251 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

ARTS  OF  PEACE  RESUMED. — DOCTRINE  OF  STATE  RIGHTS. 

Name  of  King's  County  changed  to  Washington,  252 
New  census  taken.  .  .  .          253 

Question  of  State  Rights  raised,  .  253 

1782.  Nicholas  Cooke  died,         .  254 
Armed  resistance  to  the  collection  of  taxes,        .  254 
Troubles  arising  from  financial  embarrassment,  255 

1783.  Acts  of  the  Assembly,       .  .          256 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

DEPRECIATION  OF  THE  CURRENCY. — INTRODUCTION  OF  THE 
SPINNING-JENNY.  —  BITTER  OPPOSITION  TO  THE  FEDERAL 
UNION.  —  RHODE  ISLAND  FINALLY  ACCEPTS  THE  CONSTI- 
TUTION. 

Desperate  attempt  to  float  a  new  issue  of  paper 

money,  .  .  .  .  '        257 

Forcing  acts  declared  unconstitutional,  .  258 

First  spinning-jenny  made  in  the  United  States.  259 
Bill  passed  to  pay  five  shillings  in  the  pound  for 

paper  money.  .          260 

Refusal  of  Rhode  Island  to  send  delegates  to  the 

Federal  Convention,     .  .  .          261 

Proposed  United  States  Constitution  printed,        261 

Acceptance  of  the  Constitution  by  various  states.  261 

State  of  manufactures,  .  .  .  262 

1790.       Rhode  Island  declared  her  adhesion  to  the  Union,  264 


ANALYTICAL  TABLE.  XXV 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

MODE   OF  LIFE  IN  OUR  FOREFATHERS'   DAYS. 

Page. 

Early  condition  of  the  land,  .  .  265 

Agriculture  the  principal  pursuit  of  the  early 

settlers,                  .               .  .  .266 

Early  traveling,                 .               .  .267 

Early  means  of  education,      .  .  .  267 

Amusements,       .                .                .  .          268 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

COMMERCIAL    GROWTH   AND   PROSPERITY  OF  RHODE   ISLAND. 

Rhode  Island  wiser  on  account  of  her  previous 

struggles  for  self-government,          .  .  270 

Commercial  condition  of  Rhode  Island,        .  271 

Trade  with  East  Indies  commenced,     .  .  271 

1790.       First  cotton  factory  went  into  operation,       .  273 

1799.       Free  school  system  established,              .  .  273 

1819.       Providence  Institution  for  Savings  founded,  274 

Canal  from  the  Providence  River  to  the  north 

line  of  the  state  projected  and  failed,       .  274 

1801.       Great  fire  in  Providence,          .                .  .274 

Visit  of  Washington  to  Rhode  Island,            .  275 

1832.       Providence  made  a  city,           .               .  .  275 

Rhode  Island  in  the  War  of  1812,                   .  276 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THK   DORR  REBELLION. 

The  Right  of  Suffrage  becomes  the  question  of 

Rhode  Island's  politics,       .  .  277 

Inequality  of  representation,  .  .          278 

No  relief  obtainable  from  the  Assembly,  .  278 

Formation  of  Suffrage  Associations,  .          279 

Peoples'  Constitution,  so  called,  voted  for,          .  279 

1842.       Thomas  Wilson  Dorr  elected  Governor  under  it,  280 

Conflict  between  the  old  and  new  government,  .  280 

Attempt    of  the  Dorr  government  to  organize 

and  seize  the  arsenal  both  failures,  .  .  281 


XXVI  ANALYTICAL  TABLE 

P»g«. 

End  of  the  War,  .  .  .281 

Dorr  tried  for  treason  and  sentenced  to  imprison- 
ment for  life ;  afterwards  restored  to  his  politi- 
cal and  civil  rights,  .  .  .  281 
New  Constitution  adopted,              .               .          282 
Freedom  of  thought  and  speech  the  foundation 

of  Rhode  Island's  prosperity,  .  .  228 

/ 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

LIFE   UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION.— THE  WAR    OF  THE 
REBELLION.— THE  CENTENARY. 

Life  under  the  Constitution,  .               .               .  283 

The  War  of  the  Rebellion,  .               .          283 

Rhode  Island's  quota,  .               .               .  284 

The  Centennial  Exposition,  .               .          286 

APPENDIX. 

King  Charles'  Charter, 

Present  State  Constitution, 

Copy  of  the  Dorr  Constitution, 

State  seal,          .... 

Governors  of  Rhode  Island,  . 

Deputy-Governors  of  Rhode  Island, 

Members  of  the  Continental  Congress, 

Towns,  date  of  incorporation,  &c., 

Population  from  1708  to  1875, 

State  valuation. 

The  Corliss  Engine  at  the  Centennial  Exposition,  349 


^  f  Ijort  itstonj  of  iHjofce  Jshmb 


CHAPTER    I. 

CONDITION  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY  AND  PLY- 
MOUTH COLONIES. — ARRIVAL  AND  BANISHMENT  OF  ROGER 
WILLIAMS. 

THE  nations  of  antiquity,  unable  to  discover 
their  real  origin,  found  a  secret  gratification  in 
tracing'  it  to  the  Gods.  Thus  a  religious  senti- 
ment was  connected  with  the  foundation  of  states, 
and  the  building  of  the  city  walls  was  consecrated 
by  religious  rites.  The  Christian  middle  ages 
preserved  the  spirit  of  Pagan  antiquity,  and  every 
city  celebrated  with  solemn  rites  the  day  of  its 
patron  saint.  The  colonies,  which,  in  the  natural 
progress  of  their  development,  became  the  United 
States  of  America,  traced  their  history,  by  authen- 
tic documents,  to  the  first  Christian  cultivators  of 
the  soil ;  and  in  New  England  the  religious  idea 
lay  at  the  root  of  their  foundation  and  develop- 
ment. In  Plymouth  it  took  the  form  of  separat- 
ism, or  a  simple  severance  from  the  Church  of 
England.  In  Massachusetts  Bay  it  aimed  at  the 
establishment  of  a  theocracy,  and  the  enforcement 
of  a  rigorous  uniformity  of  creed  and  discipline. 


2  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

From  the  resistance  to  this  uniformity  came 
Rhode  Island  and  the  doctrine  of  soul  liberty. 

On  the  oth  of  February,  1631,  the  ship  Lyon, 
with  twenty  passengers  and  a  large  cargo  of  pro- 
visions, came  to  anchor  in  Xantaskett  roads.  On 
the  8th  she  reached  Boston,  and  the  9th,  which 
had  been  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
for  the  little  Colony,  sorely  stricken  by  famine, 
was  made  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  for  its 
sudden  deliverance.  Among  those  who,  on  that 
day,  first  imited  their  prayers  with  the  prayers  of 
the  elder  colonists,  was  the  young  colonist,  Roger 
Williams. 

Little  is  known  of  the  early  history  of  Roger 
Williams,  except  that  he  was  born  in  "Wales. 
about  1606 ;  attracted,  early  in  life,  the  attention 
of  Sir  Edward  Coke  by  his  skill  in  taking  down 
in  short  hand,  sermons,  and  speeches  in  the  Star 
Chamber ;  was  sent  by  the  great  lawyer  to  Sutton 
Hospital,  now  known  as  the  Charter  House,  with 
its  fresh  memories  of  Coleridge  and  Charles  Lamb ; 
went  thence  in  the  regular  time  to  Oxford  :  took 
orders  in  the  Church  of  England,  and  finally  em- 
braced the  doctrine  of  the  Puritans.  Besides  Latin 
and  Greek,  which  formed  the  principal  objects  of 
an  University  course,  he  acquired  a  competent 
knowledge  of  Hebrew  and  several  modern  lan- 
guages, for  the  stud}*  of  which  he  seemed  to  have 
had  a  peculiar  facility.  His  industry  and  attain- 
ments soon  won  him  a  high  place  in  the  esteem  of 
his  religious  brethren,  and  although  described  by 


HISTOKY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  3 

one  who  knew  him  as  "passionate  and  precipi- 
tate," he  gained  and  preserved  the  respect  of  some 
of  the  most  eminent  among  his  theological  oppo- 
nents. The  key  to  his  life  may  be  found  in  the 
simple  fact  that  he  possessed  an  active  and  pro- 
gressive mind  in  an  age  wherein  thought  in- 
stantly became  profession,  and  profession  passed 
promptly  into  action. 

When  this  "godly  and  zealous  young  min- 
ister" landed  in  Boston,  he  found  the  territory 
which  has  long  been  known  as  Massachusetts  in 
the  possession  of  two  distinct  colonies,  the  Colony 
of  Plymouth,  founded  in  1620,  by  the  followers 
of  John  Robinson,  of  Leyden,  and  known  as  the 
colony  of  separatists,  or  men  who  had  separated 
from  the  Church  of  England,  but  were  willing  to 
grant  to  others  the  same  freedom  of  opinion 
which  they  claimed  for  themselves  ;  and  the  Col- 
ony of  Massachusetts  Bay,  founded  ten  years 
later  by  a  band  of  intelligent  Puritans,  many  of 
them  men  of  position  and  fortune,  who,  alarmed 
by  the  variety  of  new  opinions  and  doctrines 
which  seemed  to  menace  a  total  subversion  of 
what  they  regarded  as  religion,  had  resolved  to 
establish  a  new  dwelling  place  in  a  new  world, 
with  the  Old  and  New  Testament  for  statute 
book  and  constitution.  Building  upon  this  foun- 
dation the  clergy  naturally  became  their  guides 
and  counselors  in  all  things,  and  the  control  of 
the  law,  which  was  but  another  name  for  the  con- 
trol of  the  Bible,  extended  to  all  the  acts  of  life, 


4  HISTORY   OF   RHODE    INLAND. 

penetrating  to  the  domestic  fireside,  and  holding 
ever}'  member  of  the  community  to  a  rigid  ac- 
countability for  speech  as  well  as  action.  Ask- 
ing for  no  exemption  from  the  rigorous  applica- 
tion of  Bible  precept  for  themselves,  tlit-v  granted 
none  to  others,  and  looked  upon  the  advocate  of 
any  interpretation  but  theirs  as  a  rebel  to  God 
and  an  enemy  to  their  peace. 

It  was  to  this  iron-bound  colony  that  Roger 
Williams  brought  his  restless,  vigorous  and  fear- 
less spirit.  Disagreements  soon  arose  and  sus- 
picions were  awakened.  He  claimed  a  freedom 
of  speech  irreconcilable  with  the  fundamental 
principles  of  their  government ;  and  they  a  power 
over  opinion  irreconcilable  with  freedom  of 
thought.  Neither  of  them  could  look  upon  his 
own  position  from  the  other's  point  of  view.  Both 
were  equally  sincere.  And  much  as  we  may  now 
condemn  the  treatment  which  Williams  received 
at  the  hands  of  the  colonial  government  of  Ma-- 
sachusetts  Bay.  its  charter  and  its  religious  tenets 
justified  it  in  treating  him  as  an  intruder. 

The  first  public  expression  of  the  hostility  he 
was  to  encounter  .came  from  the  magistrates  of 
Boston  within  two  months  after  his  arrival,  and, 
on  the  very  day  on  which  the  church  of  Salem 
had  installed  him  as  assistant  to  their  aged  pastor, 
Mr.  Skeltou.  The  magistrates  were  a  powerful 
body,  and  before  autumn  he  found  his  situation 
so  uncomfortable  that  he  removed  to  Plymouth, 
where  the  rights  of  individual  opinion  were  held 


HISTORY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  5 

in  respect,  if  not  fully  acknowledged.  Here, 
while  assiduously  engaged  in  the  functions  of  his 
holy  office,  he  was  brought  into  direct  contact 
with  several  of  the  most  powerful  chiefs  of  the 
neighboring  tribes  of  Indians,  and  among  them 
of  Massasoit  and  Miantonomi,  who  were  to  exer- 
cise so  controlling  an  influence  over  his  fortunes. 
His  fervent  spirit  caught  eagerly  at  the  prospect 
of  bringing  them  under  Christian  influences,  and 
his  natural  taste  for  the  study  of  languages  served 
to  lighten  the  labor  of  preparation.  "God  was 
pleased,"  he  wrote  many  years  afterwards,  "to 
give  me  a  painful,  patient  spirit  to  lodge  with 
them  in  their  filthy  holes,  even  while  I  lived  at 
Plymouth  and  Salem,  to  gain  their  tongue;  my 
soul's  desire  was  to  do  the  natives  good." 

This  was  apparently  the  calmest  period  of  his 
stormy  career.  It  was  at  Plymouth  that  his  first 
child,  a  daughter,  was  born.  But  although  he 
soon  made  many  friends,  and  had  the  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  his  labors  were  successful,  his 
thoughts  still  turned  towards  Salem,  and,  receiv- 
ing an  invitation  to  resume  his  place  as  assistant 
of  Mr.  Skelton,  whose  health  was  on  the  wane, 
he  returned  thither  after  an  absence  of  two  years. 
Some  of  the  members  of  his  church  had  become 
so  attached  to  him  that  they  followed  him  to  the 
sister  colony. 

And  now  came  suspicions  which  quickly  rip- 
ened into  controversies,  and  before  another  two 
years  were  over  led  to  what  he  regarded  as 


6  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

persecution,  but  what  the  rulers  of  the  Bay  Colony 
held  to  be  the  fulfillment  of  the  obligation  which 
they  had  assumed  in  adopting  the  whole  Bible 
as  their  rule  of  life.  In  1635  he  was  banished 
from  the  colony  by  a  solemn  sentence  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  for  teaching : 

"1st.  That  we  have  not  our  land  by  Pattent 
from  the  King,  but  that  the  natives  are  the  true 
owners  of  it,  and  that  we  ought  to  repent  of  such 
receiving  it  by  Pattent. 

2d.  That  it  is  not  lawful  to  call  a  wicked  per- 
son to  swear,  to  pray,  as  being  actions  of  God's 
worship. 

3d.  That  it  is  not  lawful  to  heare  any  of  the 
Ministers  of  the  Parish  Assemblies  in  England. 

4th.  That  the  civil  magistrates  power  extends 
only  to  the  Bodies  and  Goods  and  outward  state 
of  man." 

For  us  who  read  these  charges  with  the  light 
of  two  more  centuries  of  progress  upon  them,  it 
seems  strange  that  neither  the  General  Court  nor 
Williams  himself  should  have  perceived  that  the 
only  one  wherein  civilization  was  interested  was 
that  to  which  the}*  have  assigned  the  least  con- 
spicuous place. 


CHAPTEE    II. 

SUFFERINGS  OF  ROGER  WILLIAMS  IN  THE  WILDERNESS. — 
FOUNDS  A  SETTLEMENT  ON  THE  SEEKONK  RIVER. — IS  AD- 
VISED TO  DEPART. — SEEKS  OUT  A  NEW  PLACE.  WHICH  HE 
CALLS  PROVIDENCE. 

WHEN  the  sentence  of  banishment  was  first 
pronounced  against  the  future  founder  of  Rhode 
Island,  his  health  was  so  feeble  that  it  was  re- 
solved to  suspend  the  execution  of  it.  till  spring. 
This,  however,  was  soon  found  to  be  impractica- 
ble, for  the  affection  and  confidence  which  he  had 
inspired  presently  found  open  expression,  and 
friends  began  to  gather  around  him  in  his  own 
house  to  listen  to  his  teaching.  Lack  of  energy 
was  not  a  defect  of  the  government  of  the  Colony 
of  Massachusetts  Bay.  and  learning  that  rumors 
of  a  new  colony  to  be  founded  on  Narragansett 
Bay  were  already  afloat,  it  resolved  to  send 
the  supposed  leader  of  the  unwelcome  enterprise 
back  to  England.  A  warrant,  theiefore,  was 
given  to  Captain  Underbill,  a  man  of  doubtful 
character  in  the  employment  of  the  Colony,  with 
orders  to  proceed  directly  to  Salem,  put  the  of- 
fender on  board  his  pinnace,  and  convey  him  to 
a  ship  that  lay  in  Boston  harbor  ready  to  sail 
for  England  with  the  first  fair  wind.  When  the 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

pinnace  reached  Salem,  he  found  only  the  wife 
and  infant  children  of  the  banished  man,  and  a 
people  deeply  grieved  for  the  loss  of  their  pastor. 
Williams  was  gone,  and  whither  no  one  could  say. 

And  whither,  indeed,  could  he  go  ?  The  thin  • 
und  scattered  settlements  of  the  northern  colonies 
were  bounded  seaward  by  a  tempestuous  ocean, 
and  inland  by  a  thick  belt  of  primeval  forest, 
whose  depths  civilized  man  had  never  penetrated. 
If  he  escaped  the  wild  beasts  that  prowled  in 
their  recesses,  could  he  hope  to  escape  the  wilder 
savage,  who  claimed  the  forest  for  his  hunting 
grounds?  "I  was  sorely  tossed,"  Williams 
writes  in  after  years,  "for  fourteen  weeks  in  a 
bitter  winter-season,  not  knowing  what  bread  or 
bed  did  mean."  The  brave  man's  earnest  mind 
bore  up  the  frail  and  suffering  body. 

And  now  he  began  to  reap  the  fruit  of  his  kind 
treatment  of  the  natives,  and  the  pains  which  he 
had  taken  to  learn  their  language.  "These 
ravens  fed  me  in  the  wilderness,"  he  wrote,  with 
a  touching  application  of  Scripture  narrative. 
They  gave  him  the  shelter  of  their  squalid  wig- 
wams, and  shared  with  him  their  winter  store. 
The  great  chief  Massasoit  opened  his  door  to  him, 
and,  when  spring  came,  gave  him  a  tract  of  land  on 
the  Seekonk  River,  where  he  "pitched  and  began 
to  build  and  plant."  Here  he  was  soon  joined  by 
some  friends  from  Salem,  who  had  resolved  to 
cast  in  their  lot  with  his.  But  the  seed  which 
they  planted  had  already  begun  to  send  up  its 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  9 

early  slioots,  when  a  letter  from  his  "ancient 
friend,  the  Governor  of  Plymouth,"  came,  to 
" lovingly  advise  him "  that  he  was  "fallen  into 
the  edge  of  their  bounds  ; "  that  they  were  "loth 
to  displease  the  Bay,"  and  that  if  he  would 
"remove  but  to  the  other  side  of  the  water,"  he 
would  have  "the  country  before  [him]  and 
might  be  as  free  as  themselves,"  and  they 
"should  be  loving  neighbors  together."  Wil- 
liams accepted  the  friendly  counsel,  and,  taking 
five  companions  with  him,  set  out  in  a  canoe  to 
follow  the  downward  course  of  the  Seekonk  and 
find  a  spot  whereon  he  might  plant  and  build  in 
safety.  As  the  little  boat  came  under  the  shade 
of  the  western  bank  of  the  pleasant  stream,  a 
small  party  of  Indians  was  seen  watching  them 
from  a  large  fiat  rock  that  rose  a  few  feet  above 
the  water's  edge.  "Wha-cheer,  netop  ? — Wha- 
cheer? — how  are  you,  friend?"  they  cried  ;  and 
Williams  accepting  the  friendly  salutation  as  a 
favorable  omen,  turned  the  prow  of  his  canoe  to 
the  shore.  Tradition  calls  the  spot  where  he 
landed,  Slate  Rock,  and  the  name  of  Wha-cheer 
square  has  been  given  in  advance  to  the  land 
around  it.  What  was  said  or  do.ne  at  that  first 
interview  has  not  been  recorded,  but  the  part- 
ing was  as  friendly  as  the  meeting,  and  Williams 
resuming  his  course,  soon  found  himself  at  the 
junction  of  the  Seekonk  and  Mooshausick.  Two 
points  mark  the  intermingling  of  the  two  streams, 
and  in  those  days  the  waters  must  have  spread 


10  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

their  broad  bosom  like  a  lake,  and  gleamed  and 
danced  within  their  fringe  of  primeval  forest. 
Williams,  following,  perhaps,  the  counsel  of  the 
Indians,  turned  northward  and  held  his  way 
between  the  narrowing  banks  of  the  Mooshausick, 
till  he  espied,  at  the  foot  of  a  hill  which  rose 
shaggy  with  trees  and  precipitate  from  its  eastern 
shore,  the  flash  and  sparkling  of  a  spring.  Here 
he  landed,  and,  recalling  his  trials  and  the  mighty 
hand  that  had  sustained  him  through  them  all,, 
called  the  place  Providence. 


CHAPTEE  III.  ' 

WILLIAMS  OBTAINS  A  GRANT  OF  LAND  AND  FOUNDS  A  COLONY. 
—FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  COLONY.— WILLIAMS  GOES 
TO  ENGLAND  TO  OBTAIN  A  ROYAL  CHARTER. 

THE  territory  which  now  forms  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island,  with  the  exception  of  Bristol 
County,  in  which  lay  Mount  Hope,  the  seat  of 
Massasoit,  chief  of  the  Wamponoags,  was  held 
by  the  Narragansetts,  a  tribe  skilled  in  the  Indian 
art  of  making  wampum,  the  Indian  money,  and 
the  art  common  to  most  barbarous  nations  of 
making  rude  vessels  in  clay  and  stone.  They 
had  once  been  very  powerful,  and  could  still 
bring  four  or  five  thousand  braves  to  the  war- 
path. Their  language  was  substantially  the  same 
with  that  of  the  other  New  England  tribes,  and 
was  understood  by  the  natives  of  New  York, 
New  Jersey  and  Delaware.  With  this  language 
Roger  Williams  had  early  made  himself  familiar. 

It  was  labor  well  bestowed,  and  he  was  to  reap 
the  reward  of  it  in  his  day  of  tribulation.  The 
chiefs  of  the  Narragansetts  when  he  came  among 
them  were  Canonicus,  an  "old  prince,  most, 
shy  of  the  English  to  his  latest  breath,"  and 
his  nephew,  Miantonomi.  Their  usual  residence 
was  on  the  beautiful  Island  of  Conanicut ;  and 


12  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

when  Williams  first  came  lie  found  them  at  feud 
with  his  other  friend,  Ossameguin,  or  Massasoit, 
Sachem  of  the  Wamponoags.  His  first  care  was 
to  reconcile  these  chiefs,  "traveling  between 
them  three  to  pacify,  to  satisfy  all  these  and  their 
dependent  spirits  of  (his)  honest  intention  to  live 
peaceably  by  them."  The  well  founded  distrust 
of  the  English  which  Canonicus  cherished  to  the 
end  of  his  life  did  not  extend  to  Williams,  to 
whom  he  made  a  grant  of  land  between  the  Moos- 
hausick  and  the  Wanasquatucket ;  confirming  it 
two  years  later  by  a  deed  bearing  the  marks  of 
the  two  Narragansett  chiefs.  This  land  Wil- 
liams divided  with  twelve  of  his  companions, 
reserving  for  them  and  himself  the  right  of  ex- 
tending the  grant  "to  such  others  as  the  major 
part  of  us  shall  admit  to  the  same  fellowship  of 
vote  with  us."  It  was  a  broad  foundation,  and 
he  soon  found  himself  in  the  midst  of  a  flourish- 
ing colony. 

The  proprietors,  dividing  their  lands  into  two 
parts,  "the  grand  purchase  of  Providence,"  and 
the  "Pawtuxet  purchase."  made  an  assignment  of 
lots  to  other  colonists,  and  entered  resolutely 
upon  the  task  of  bringing  the  soil  under  cultiva- 
tion. The  possession  of  property  naturally  leads 
to  the  making  of  laws,  and  the  new  colonists  had 
not  been  together  long  before  they  felt  the  want 
of  a  government.  The  form  which  it  first 
assumed  amongst  them  was  that  of  a  democratic 
municipality,  wherein  the  "masters  of  families" 


HISTORY   OF   ERODE   ISLAND.  13 

incorporated  themselves  into  a  town,  and  trans- 
acted their  public  business  in  town  meeting.  The 
colonists  of  Plymouth  had  formed  their  social 
compact  in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower.  The 
colonists  of  Providence  formed  theirs  on  the  banks 
of  the  Mooshausick.  "We,  whose  names  are 
hereunder,"  it  reads,  "desirous  to  inhabit  in 
the  town  of  Providence,,  do  promise  to  subject 
ourselves  in  active  or  passive  obedience  to  all 
such  orders  or  agreements  as  shall  be  made  for 
public  good  for  the  body,  in  an  orderly  way,  by 
the  major  assent  of  the  present  inhabitants,  mas- 
ters of  families,  incorporated  together  into  a  town 
fellowship,  and  such"  others  as  they  shall  admit 
unto  them  only  in  civil  things." 

Never  before,  since  the  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity, has  the  separation  of  Church  from  State 
been  definitely  marked  out  by  this  limitation  of 
the  authority  of  the  magistrate  to  civil  things  ; 
and  never,  perhaps,  in  the  whole  course  of  his- 
tory, was  a  fundamental  principle  so  vigorously 
observed.  Massachusetts  looked  upon  the  ex- 
periment with  jealousy  and  distrust,  and  when 
ignorant  or  restless  men  confounded  the  right  of 
individual  opinion  in  religious  matters  with  a 
right  of  independent  action  in  civil  matters,  those 
who  had  condemned  Roger  Williams  to  banish- 
ment, eagerly  proclaimed  that  no  well  ordered 
government  could  exist  in  connection  with  liberty 
of  conscience.  Many  grave  discussions  were  held, 
and  many  curious  'questions  arose  before  the 


14  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

distinction  between  liberty  and  license  became 
thoroughly  interwoven  with  daily  life  ;  but  only 
one  passage  of  this  singular  chapter  has  been 
preserved,  and,  as  if  to  leave  no  doubt  concerning 
the  spirit  which  led  to  its  preservation,  the  nar- 
rator begins  with  these  ominous  words:  "At 
Providence,  also,  the  Devil  was  not  idle." 

The  wife  of  Joshua  Yerin  was  a  great  admirer 
of  Williams' s  preaching,  and  claimed  the  right 
of  going  to  hear  him  oftener  than  suited  the 
wishes  of  her  husband.  Did  she,  in  following 
the  dictates  of  her  conscience,  which  bade  her  go 
to  a  meeting  which  harmonized  with  her  feelings, 
violate  the  injunction  of  Scripture  which  bids 
wives  obey  their  husbands  ?  Or  did  he,  in  exer- 
cising his  acknowledged  control  as  a  husband, 
trench  upon  her  right  of  conscience  in  religious 
concerns  ?  It  was  a  delicate  question  ;  but  after 
long  deliberation  and  many  prayers,  the  claims 
of  conscience  prevailed,  and  "it  was  agreed  that 
Joshua  Verm,  upon  the  breach  of  a  covenant  for 
restraining  of  the  libertie  of  conscience,  shall  be 
withheld  from  the  libertie  of  voting  till  he  shall 
declare  the  contrarie" — a  sentence  from  which  it- 
appears  that  the  right  of  suffrage  was  regarded 
as  a  conceded  privilege,  not  a  natural  right. 

Questions  of  jurisdiction  also  arose.  Massa- 
chusetts could  not  bring  herself  to  look  upon  her 
sister  with  a  friendly  eye,  and  Plymouth  was  soon 
to  be  merged  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  easy  to 
foresee  that  there  would  be  bickerings  and  jeal- 


HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  15 

ousies,  if  not  open  contention  between  them: 
Still  the  little  Colony  grew  apace.  The  first 
church  was  founded  in  1639.  To  meet  the  wants 
of  an  increased  population  the  government  was 
changed,  and  five  disposers  or  selectmen  charged 
with  the  principal  functions  of  administration, 
subject,  however,  to  the  superior  authority  of 
monthly  town  meetings ;  so  early  and  so  nat- 
urally did  municipal  institutions  take  root  in  Eng- 
lish colonies.  A  vital  point  was  yet  untouched. 
Williams,  indeed,  held  that  the  Indians,  as  orig- 
inal occupants  of  the  soil,  were  the  only  legal 
owners  of  it,  and  carrying  his  principle  into  all 
his  dealings  with  the  natives,  bought  of  them 
the*  land  on  which  he  planted  his  Colony.  The 
Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  colonists,  also, 
bought  their  land  of  the  natives,  but  in  their 
intercourse  with  the  whites  founded  their  claim 
upon  royal  charter.  They  even  went  so  far  as 
to  apply  for  a  charter  covering  all  the  territory 
of  the  new  Colony. 

Meanwhile  two  other  colonies  had  been  planted 
on  the  shores  of  Narragansett  Bay :  the  Colony 
of  Aquidnick,  on  the  Island  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
the  Colony  of  Warwick.  The  sense  of  a  common 
danger  united  them,  and,  in  1643,  they  appointed 
Roger  Williams  their  agent  to  repair  to  England 
and  apply  for  a  royal  charter.  It  has  been  treas- 
ured up  as  a  bitter  memory  that  he  was  com- 
pelled to  seek  a  conveyance  in  New  York,  for 
Massachusetts  would  not  allow  him  to  pass 


16  HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAXD. 

through  her  territories.  His  negotiations  were 
crowned  with  full  success.  In  1644  he  was  again 
in  the  colonies,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Provi- 
dence, advised  of  his  success,  met  him  at  See- 
konk  and  escorted  him  across  the  river  with  an 
exultant  procession  of  fourteen  canoes. 

To  defray  the  expenses  of  his  mission  he  taught 
Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew — counting  "two  eons  of 
Parliament  men"  among  his  pupils — and  read 
Dutch  to  Milton. 


CHAPTER  IT. 

SETTLEMENT  OF  AQUIDNECK  AND  WARWICK. — PEQUOT  WAR. — 
•  DEATH  OF  MIANTONOMI. 

I  HAVE  said  that  two  other  colonies  had  been 
founded  in  Rhode  Island.  Like  Providence, 
they  both  had  their  origin  in  religious  con- 
troversy. Not  long  after  the  return  of  Roger 
Williams  there  came  to  Boston  a  woman  of  high 
and  subtle  spirit,  deeply  imbued  with  the  con- 
troversial temper  of  her  age.  Her  name  was 
Anna  Hutchinson,  and  she  taught  that  salvation 
was  the  fruit  of  grace,  not  of  works.  It  is  easy 
to  conceive  how  such  a  doctrine  might  be  per- 
verted by  logical  interpretation,  and  religious 
standing  made  independent  of  moral  character. 
This  was  presently  done,  and  Massachusetts, 
true  to  her  theoretic  system,  banished  Anna 
Hutchinson  and  her  followers  as  she  had  ban- 
ished Roger  Williams.  In  the  autumn  of  1637, 
nineteen  of  these  Antinomians,  as  they  were 
called  to  distinguish  them  from  the  legalists  or 
adherents  of  the  law,  took  refuge  in  Rhode 
Island,  where  they  were  kindly  welcomed  ;  and, 
soon  after,  purchasing  the  Island  of  Aquidneck, 
through  the  intervention  of  Williams  and  Sir 
Henry  Yane,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  new  town 

at  Pocasset,  near  the  north  end  of  the  Island. 
2 


18  HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

Their  leaders  were  William  Coddington  and  John 
Clarke,  under  whose  wise  guidance  the  little  Col- 
ony made  rapid  progress,  and  soon  began  another 
settlement  at  Newport,  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  island.  Here,  breaking  roads,  clearing  up 
woods,  exterminating  wolves  and  foxes,  opening 
a  trade  in  lumber,  engaging  boldly  in  building 
ships,  and  above  all  forming  a  free  and  simple 
government,  with  careful  regard  to  religion  and 
education,  they  soon  found  themselves  in  advance 
of  their  elder  sister,  Providence.  In  both  col- 
onies the  principle  of  religious  liberty  formed  the 
basis  of  civil  organization.  On  Rhode  Island, 
however,  it  was  confined  to  Christians — a  step 
greatly  in  advance  of  the  general  intelligence  of 
the  age.  But  in  Providence  Roger  Williams 
went  still  further,  and,  meeting  the  wants  of  all 
future  ages,  proclaimed  it  the  right  of  every 
human  being. 

The  other  Colony,  as  if  to  illustrate  the  varie- 
ties of  human  opinion,  was  founded  by  Samuel 
Gorton,  one  of  those  bold  but  restless  men  who 
leave  doubtful  names  in  history  because  few  see 
their  character  from  the  same  point  of  view.  In 
Gorton's  religious  sentiments  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  large  leaven  of  mysticism,  and  the  writ- 
ings that  he  has  left  us  are  not  pleasant  reading. 
But  the  practical  danger  of  his  teaching  lay  in 
his  denial  of  all  government  not  founded  upon 
the  authority  of  the  King  or  of  Parliament.  Mas- 
sachusetts was  a  legitimate  government  within 


HISTOEY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  19 

her  own  bounds.  But  unchartered  Rhode  Island 
had  no  legal  existence.  At  Pocasset  Gorton 
soon  came  into  collision  with  the  civil  authorities 
and  was  banished.  In  Providence  he  presently 
raised  such  dissensions  that  Williams  almost  lost 
heart,  and  began  to  think  seriously  of  withdraw- 
ing to  his  little  Island  of  Patience,  in  Narragan- 
sett  Bay.  At  last  Gorton  with  eleven  compan- 
ions bought  Shawomet  of  its  Indian  owners  and 
established  himself  there.  This  brought  him  into 
open  hostility  with  Massachusetts,  which  having 
already  cast  longing  eyes  upon  the  commercial 
advantages  of  Narragansett  Bay,  was  secretly 
endeavoring  to  establish  a  claim  to  all  the  land 
on  its  shores. 

Hostile  words  were  soon  followed  by  hostile  acts. 
Gorton  and  his  companions  were  besieged  in  their 
house  by  an  armed  band,  compelled  to  surrender, 
carried  by  force  to  Massachusetts,  tried  for  heresy, 
and  barely  escaping  the  gibbet,  condemned  to  im- 
prisonment and  irons.  A  reaction  soon  followed. 
Public  sentiment  came  to  their  relief.  They  were 
banished  indeed  from  Massachusetts,  but  they 
were  set  at  liberty  and  allowed  to  return  to 
Rhode  Island.  At  Aquidneck  they  were  received 
with  the  sympathy  which  generous  natures  ever 
feel  for  the  victims  of  persecution,  and  Gorton 
was  raised  to  an  honorable  magistracy  in  the 
very  colony  wherein  he  had  been  openly  whipped 
as  a  disturber  of  the  public  peace.  It  was  not  till 
the  claims  of  Massachusetts  had  been  virtually 


20  HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

set  aside  by  the  charter  which  Roger  Williams 
obtained  for  his  Colony  that  Gorton  returned  to 
Shawomet,  and  set  himself  to  rebuild  the  Colony 
of  Warwick. 

Meanwhile  great  changes  had  taken  place  in 
the  relations  of  the  white  man  'to  the  red.  I 
have  told  how  kindly  the  natives  received  Roger 
Williams,  and  how  justly  he  dealt  by  them.  I 
will  now  tell,  though  briefly,  with  what  a  Chris- 
tian spirit  he  used  the  influence  over  the  Indians, 
which  his  justice  had  won  for  him,  to  protect  the 
white  men  who  had  driven  him  from  amongst 
them.  On  the  western  border  of  the  territory  of 
the  Massachusetts  dwelt  the  tierce  and  powerful 
Pequots.  No  Indian  had  ever  hated  the  whites 
with  a  hatred  more  intense  than  they,  or  watched 
the  growth  of  the  white  settlements  with  a  truer 
perception  of  the  danger  with  which  they  menaced 
the  original  owners  of  the  soil.  They  resolved 
upon  war,  and  to  make  their  triumph  sure,  re- 
solved also  to  win  over  the  Narragansetts  as 
active  allies.  Tidings  of  the  danger  soon  reached 
the  Bay  Colony,  and  Governor  Vane  appealed  to 
Roger  Williams  to  interpose  and  prevent  the 
fatal  alliance.  Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost. 
The  Pequot  embassadors  were  already  in  confer- 
ence with  Canonicus  and  Miantonomi  on  Conan- 
icut.  Forgetting  his  personal  wrongs,  and  barely 
taking  time  to  tell  his  wife  whither  he  was  going, 
he  set  forth  alone  in  his  canoe,  ''cutting  through 
a  stormy  wind  and  great  seas,  every  minute  in 
hazard  of  life." 


HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  21 

Greater  hazard  awaited  him  on  shore.  English 
blood  had  already  been  shed  by  the  Pequots, 
and  knowing  their  fierce  nature,  he  "nightly 
looked  for  their  bloody  knives  at  his  own  throat 
also."  For  three  days  and  three  nights  he  con- 
fronted them  face  to  face,  and  so  great  was  the 
control  which  he  had  gained  over  the  Narragan- 
sett  chiefs  that  he  succeeded  in  "breaking  in 
pieces  the  Pequot  negotiation  and  design,  and 
made  and  finished  by  many  travels  and  charges 
the  English  league  with  the  Narragansetts  and 
Mohegans  against  the  Pequots."  The  war  came. 
The  ISTarragansetts  were  on  the  side  of  the  Eng- 
lish ;  fearful  massacres  were  committed ;  the 
Pequots  were  rooted  out  from  their  native  soil 
forever  ;  Massachusetts  was  saved  ;  but  the  Chris- 
tian, forgetting  of  injuries  wherewith  Williams 
had  come  to  her  aid  in  the  critical  moment  of  her 
fortunes,  was  not  deemed  of  sufficient  virtue  to 
wash  out  the  stain  of  heresy,  and  the  sentence  of 
banishment  was  left  unrepealed  on  the  darker 
page  of  her  colonial  records. 

The  Pequots  were  crushed.  The  turn  of  the 
Narragansetts  came  next.  It  was  the  fate  of  the 
red  man  to  everywhere  give  way  as  a  civiliza- 
tion irreconcilable  with  his  habits  and  his  beliefs 
advanced,  and  it  is  for  the  good  of  humanity  that 
it  is  so.  But  it  is  sad  to  remember  that  the  Chris- 
tian, with  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  should  have 
sought  his  examples  in  the  stern  denunciations 
of  the  Old  Testament,  rather  than  in  the  injunc- 


22  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

tions  to  love  and  mercy  of  the  New.  Six  years 
after  the  formation  of  the  league  against  the 
Pequots,  a  war  broke  out  between  Sequasson,  an 
ally  of  Miantonomi  and  the  Mohegans.  The 
Narragansett  Sachem,  trusting  to  the  good  faith 
of  his  adversary,  the  powerful  Uncas,  was  be- 
trayed in  a  conference,  and  his  followers,  taken 
by  surprise  in  open  violation  of  the  laws  of  even 
Indian  warfare,  were  put  to  flight.  The  unfortu- 
nate chief  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemy,  who, 
fearing  the  English  too  much  to  put  an  all}'  of 
theirs  to  death,  referred  the  question  of  his  fate 
to  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies — 
Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven — who  were  about  to  hold  a  conference  in 
Boston.  Rhode  Island,  which  had  been  excluded 
from  the  league,  had  no  voice  in  this  outrage, 
and  Williams,  whose  remonstrances  might  have 
been  of  some  avail,  was  in  England.  To  give 
greater  solemnity  to  their  deliberations  the  Com- 
missioners called  to  their  aid  "five  of  the  most 
judicious  elders,"  and  by  their  united  voices 
Miantonomi  was  condemned  to  die.  The  execu- 
tion of  the  sentence  was  entrusted  to  Uncas,  and 
the  only  condition  attached  to  the  shameful  act 
was  that  the  generous  friend  of  the  white  man 
should  not  be  tortured.  His  people  never  recov- 
ered from  the  blow.  In  the  very  next  year  they 
placed  themselves  by  a  solemn  resolution  under 
the  protection  of  the  King,  and  appointed  four 
commissioners,  one  of  whom  was  Gorton,  to 
carry  their  submission  to  England. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CHARTER  GRANTED  TO  PROVIDENCE  PLANTATIONS. — ORGAN- 
IZATION UNDER  IT.— THE  LAWS  ADOPTED. 

WE  have  seen  that  in  1643  Roger  Williams 
had  been  sent  to  England  as  agent  to  solicit  a 
charter  for  the  three  colonies  of  Narragansett  Bay. 
He  found  the  King  at  open  war  with  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  the  administration  of  the  colonies  en- 
trusted to  the  Earl  of  Warwick  and  a  joint  com- 
mittee of  the  two  Houses.  Of  the  details  of  the 
negotiation  little  is  known,  but  on  the  14th  of 
March  of  the  following  year,  a  ' '  free  and  abso- 
lute charter  was  granted  as  the  Incorporation 
of  Providence  Plantations  in  Narragansett  Bay 
in  New  England."  It  was  not  such  as  Charles 
would  have  given.  But  one  fetter  was  placed 
upon  the  free  action  of  the  people — "that  the 
la\vs,  constitutions,  punishments  for  the  civil 
government  of  the  said  plantation  be  conform- 
able to  the  laws  of  England"— and  that  was 
made  powerless  by  the  qualifying  condition  that 
the  conformity  should  extend  only  "so  far  as 
the  nature  and  constitution  of  that  place  will 
admit."  Civil  government  and  civil  laws  were 
the  only  government  and  laws  which  it  recog- 
nized ;  and  the  absence  of  any  allusion  to  relig- 
ious freedom  in  it  shows  how  firmly  and  wisely 
Williams  avoided  every  form  of  expression  which 


24  HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

might  seem  to  recognize  the  power  to  grant  or  to 
deny  that  inalienable  right.  The  regulation  of 
the  "general  government"  in  its  " relation  to 
the  rest  of  the  plantations  in  America,"  was  re- 
serv.ed  "  to  the  Earl  and  Commissioners." 

Yet  more  than  three  years  were  allowed  to  pass 
before  it  went  into  full  force  as  a  bond  of  union 
for  the  four  towns.  Then,  in  May,  1647,  the  cor- 
porators met  at  Portsmouth  in  General  Court  of 
Election,  and,  accepting  the  charter,  proceeded  to 
organize  a  government  in  harmony  with  its  pro- 
visions. Warwick,  although  not  named  in  the 
charter,  was  admitted  to  the  same  privileges  with 
her  larger  and  more  flourishing  sisters. 

This  new  government  was  in  reality  a  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  to  whose  final  decision  in 
their  General  Assembly  all  questions  were  sub- 
mitted. "And  now,"  says  the  preamble  to  the 
code,  "sith  our  charter  gives  us  powere  to  gov- 
erne  ourselves  and  such  other  as  come  among  us, 
and  by  such  a  forme  of  Civill  Government  as  by 
the  voluntairie  consent,  &c.,  shall  be  found  most 
suitable  to  our  estate  and  condition  : 

"It  is  agreed  by  this  present  Assembly  thus 
incorporate  and  by  this  present  act  declared,  that 
the  form  of  Government  established  in  Providence 
Plantations,  is  Democratical  :  that  is  to  say,  a 
Government  held  by  ye  free  and  voluntairie  con- 
sent of  all  or  the  greater  part  of  the  free  Inhab- 
itants." 

In  accordance  with  this  fundamental  principle 
all  laws  were  first  discussed  in  Town  Meeting, 


HISTOEY   OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  25 

then  submitted  to  the  General  Court,  a  committee 
of  six  men  from  each  town  freely  chosen,  and 
finally  referred  to  the  General  Assembly.  The 
General  Court  possessed,  also,  the  power  of  orig- 
inating laws,  by  recommending  a  draft  of  law  to 
the  towns,  upon  whose  approval  the  draft  ob- 
tained the  force  of  law  till  the  next  meeting  of 
the  General  Assembly. 

The  first  act  of  this  first  Colonial  Assembly 
was  to  organize  by  electing  John  Coggeshall 
Moderator,  and  secure  an  acting  quorum  by  fixing 
it  at  forty.  It  was  next  "agreed  that  all  should 
set  their  hands  to  an  engagement  to  the  Charter." 
Then,  after  some  provision  for  the  union  of  the 
towns,  the  formation  of  the  General  Court  and 
the  adoption  of  the  laws  "as  they  are  contracted 
in  the  bulk."  Mr.  John  Coggeshall  was  chosen 
"President  of  this  Province  or  Colonie ;  Wm. 
Dyer,  General  Recorder ;  Mr.  Jeremy  Clarke, 
Treasurer,  and  Mr.  Roger  Williams,  Mr.  John 
Sanford,  Mr.  Wm.  Coddington  and  Mr.  Randall 
Holden,  Assistants  for  Providence,  Portsmouth, 
Newport  and  Warwick  "  respectively.  Then,  en- 
tering boldly  upon  its  independent  existence,  the 
little  Colony — a  State  in  all  but  the  name — pro- 
ceeded to  examine  the  body  of  laws  which  had 
been  prepared  for  its  acceptance.  One  of  the 
most  significant  of  them,  as  indicating  their  com- 
mercial aspirations,  was  their  adoption  of  the 
laws  of  Oleron  for  a  maritime  code  ;  and  another, 
as  illustrating  their  consciousness  of  their  peril- 
ous position  in  the  midst  of  savages,  still  able  to 


26  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

strike  sudden  blows,  though  no  longer  strong 
enough  to  wage  long  wars,  the  revival  and  exten- 
sion of  "the  Statute  touching  Archerie,"  and 
the  enactment  of  a  stringent  militia  law.  The 
laws  against  parricide,  murder,  arson,  robbery 
and  stealing,  show  that  there  were  men  in  the 
community  who  were  believed  to  be  capable  of 
these  crimes.  The  law  against  suicide,  and  still 
more  the  law  against  witchcraft,  are  too  much  in 
harmony  with  the  general  spirit  of  the  age  to 
warrant  a  severe  condemnation.  The  punishment 
provided  against  drunkenness  reads  as  though  it 
were  not  an  infrequent  offence.  Marriage  was 
regarded  as  a  civil  contract.  The  law  of  debt 
was  wise  and  humane,  forbidding  the  sending  of 
the  debtor  to  prison,  "there,"  it  says  with  sim- 
plicity and  force,  "  to  lie  languishing  to  no  man's 
advantage,  unless  he  refuse  to  stand  to  their 
order."  The  character  of  the  whole  code  was 
just  and  benevolent,  breathing  a  gentle  spirit  of 
practical  Christianity  and  a  calm  consciousness 
of  high  destinies.  "These,"  it  says,  "are  the 
laws  that  concern  all  men,  and  these  are  the  Pen- 
alties for  the  transgression  thereof ;  which  by 
common  consent  are  Ratified  and  Established 
throughout  this  whole  Colonie ;  and  otherwise  than 
thus  what  is  herein  forbidden,  all  men  may  walk 
as  their  consciences  persuade  them,  every  one  in 
the  name  of  his  God." 

By  the  same  Assembly  it  was  ordered,  "that 
the  seale  of  the  Providence  shall  be  an  anchor." 
A  free  gift,  also,  of  one  hundred  pounds  was 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAKD.  27 

made  to  Roger  Williams,  ' '  in  regarde  to  liis  so 
great  travaile,  charges,  and  good  endeavors  in  the 
obtaining  of  the  Charter  for  this  Province." 
This  sum  was  "to  be  levied  out  of  the  three 
towns  ;"  and  how  far  the  island  was  in  advance 
of  the  main-land  may  be  seen  by  the  distribution 
of  the  levy  which  assigns  fifty  pounds  to  Newport 
and  thirty  to  Portsmouth,  while  Providence  was 
held  at  twenty.  Of  Warwick,  still  poor  and 
weak,  nothing  was  asked. 

The  spirit  of  this  first  legislation  may  be  com- 
prised in  four  articles  :  the  first  of  which  provides 
for  the  protection  of  the  citizen  against  the  gov- 
ernment by  guaranteeing  liberty  of  property  and 
person,  and  restricting  criminal  suits  to  the  vio- 
lation of  the  letter  of  the  law.  The  second  for- 
bids the  assumption  of  office  by  any  who  are  not 
legally  chosen,  and  the  extension  of  official  action 
beyond  its  prescribed  bounds.  The  third  by 
making  the  charter  and  acts  of  the  Assembly  the 
sources  of  law,  secures  the  rights  of  minorities. 
And  the  fourth,  displaying  a  comprehension  of 
the  true  principles  of  public  service  which  suc- 
ceeding generations  would  do  well  to  study,  re- 
quired that  every  citizen  should  serve  when 
chosen  to  office  or  pay  a  fine,  and  that  his  service 
should  receive  an  adequate  compensation.  The 
engagement  of  state  and  officer  was  reciprocal— 
the  officer  binding  himself  to  serve  the  state 
faithfully,  and  the  state  to  stand  by  her  officers 
in  the  legitimate  exercise  of  their  functions. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


FOREIGN  AND  DOMESTIC  TROUBLES.  —  UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT 
AT  USURPATION  BY  CODDINGTON. 


now,  just  as  the  new  Province  was  enter- 
ing upon  that  chartered  existence  which  was  to 
lead  to  such  brilliant  results,  the  wise  and  peace- 
able Canonicus  died,  closing  in  humiliation  and 
sorrow  a  life  which  had  begun  in  strength  and 
hope.  He  had  seen  the  first  foot-prints  of  the 
stranger  ;  had  aided  him  in  his  weakness  ;  had 
resisted  him  in  his  strength  ;  had  lived  to  see  his 
destined  successor  fall  victim  to  an  unholy  policy, 
and  his  people,  impoverished  and  enfeebled, 
vainly  strive  to  avenge  the  murder  on  their  adver- 
saries ;  and  thus  with  a  heavy  heart  he  passed 
away  from  the  scene  of  his  early  glory  and  his 
long  humiliation.  We  shall  see  bye  and  bye 
the  miserable  end  of  the  great  Narragansetts. 

The  new  Colony  entered  upon  its  career  with 
two  great  problems  before  it.  The  first  was 
almost  solved.  An  experience  of  eleven  years' 
had  demonstrated  the  possibility  of  soul  liberty, 
which  had  taken  a  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
colonists  too  strong  to  be  shaken.  But  did  it 
leave  the  needed  strength  in  the  civil  organization 
to  bear  "a  government  held  by  the  free  and  vol- 


HISTORY    OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  29 

untary  consent  of  all,  or  the  greater  part,  of  the 
free  inhabitants?"  Thus  the  reconciliation  of 
liberty  and  law  formed  from  the  beginning  the 
fundamental  problem  of  Rhode  Island  history. 

At  first  there  were  great  and  frequent  dissen- 
sions. There  were  dissensions  between  Newport 
and  Portsmouth.  There  were  still  greater  dissen- 
sions in  Providence.  Enemies  exulted,  foretell- 
ing an  early  dissolution  of  the  feeble  bands  which 
held  the  dangerous  Colony  together.  Friends 
trembled  lest  their  last  hope  of  the  reconciliation 
of  liberty  and  law  should  fail  them.  But  still 
the  great  work  of  solution  went  on,  each  new 
dissension  revealing  some  new  error,  or  aiding  in 
the  demonstration  of  some  new  truth.  It  would 
take  us  far  beyond  our  limits  were  we  to  attempt 
to  follow  up  the  history  of  these  dissensions  in 
detail,  even  if  the  materials  for  a  full  narrative  of 
them  had  been  preserved.  There  were  other  diffi- 
culties, also,  which  demand  more  than  a  passing 
allusion. 

Massachusetts  had  not  yet  renounced. her  de- 
signs upon  the  territories  of  the  heretical  Colony. 
A  party  in  Pawtuxet  which  had  put  itself  under 
the  protection  of  the  Bay  Colony  had  opened  the 
way  for  action,  and  the  dispute  with  Shawomet 
had  enlarged  it.  Gorton  was  in  England  in  1647, 
exerting  himself  to  answer  the  assertions  of  the 
Massachusetts  agent,  Winslow.  Three  years  later 
the  question  became  so  complicated  and  the  dan- 
ger so  imminent  that  Roger  Williams  was  asked 
to  go  again  to  England  on  behalf  of  the  Colony. 


30  HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

Meanwhile  there  were  menacing  indications  of  an 
Indian  war,  and  a  serious  effort  was  made  on  the 
part  of  the  Island  towns  to  obtain  admission  to 
the  New  England  confederation.  The  applica- 
tion was  refused  unless  on  terms  equivalent  to 
the  surrender  of  all  right  to  independent  exist- 
ence. The  time  for  justice  and  a  clear  compre- 
hension of  the  common  interest  was  not  yet  come. 
Especially  strong  was  Massachusetts'  dread  of 
the  Baptists,  who  were  becoming  a  powerful  body 
in  Rhode  Island,  and  three  of  the  prominent 
members  of  that  communion,  among  whom  was 
John  Clarke,  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  the 
colonists,  were  siezed  at  Lynn — whither  they  had 
been  summoned  to  give  comfort  and  counsel  to 
an  aged  brother — cast  into  prison,  fined,  and 
one  of  their  number,  Obadiah  Holmes,  -cruelly 
scourged  with  a  three-corded  whip. 

Another  danger  menaced  the  Colony.  William 
Coddington,  who  had  been  chosen  President,  but 
had  never  taken  the  legal  engagement,  had  gone 
to  England,  and,  as  was  soon  ascertained,  with 
the  design  of  applying  for  a  commission  as  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Island.  For  two  years  he  was  una- 
ble to  obtain  a  hearing.  The  new  government  of 
England  was  too  busy  with  its  own  concerns  to 
lend  an  ear  to  the  agent  of  a  distant  and  humble 
Colony.  At  last  the  favorable  moment  came, 
and,  on  the  3d  of  April,  1651,  he  received  a  com- 
mission from  the  Council  of  State,  appointing  him 
Governor  for  life  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecti- 
cut. By  what  representations  or  misrepresents- 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  31 

lions  he  obtained  the  object  of  his  ambition, 
history  does  not  tell  us.  A  council  of  six,  nom- 
inated by  the  people  and  approved  by  him,  were 
to  assist  him  in  the  government.  The  charter 
government  was  apparently  dissolved. 

But  the  men  of  Providence  and  Warwick  did 
not  lose  heart.  Roger  Williams,  who  had  already 
given  proof  of  his  diplomatic  skill  at  home  by 
his  successful  negotiations  with  the  native  chiefs, 
and  in  England  by  obtaining  a  charter,  was  still 
with  them,  and  to  him  all  turned  their  eyes  in 
this  hour  of  supreme  danger.  It  was  resolved 
that  he  should  repair  to  England  without  delay, 
and  ask  for  a  confirmation  of  the  charter  in  the 
name  of  Providence  and  Warwick.  To  provide 
money  for  the  support  of  his  family  during  his 
absence  he  sold  his  trading-house  in  Narragan- 
sett,  and,  obtaining  a  hard-wrung  leave  to  embark 
at  Boston,  set  forth  in  October,  1651,  upon  his 
memorable  mission.  In  the  same  ship  went  John 
Clarke,  as  agent  for  the  Island  towns,  to  ask  for 
the  revocation  of  Coddington's  commission.  On 
the  success  of  their  application  hung  the  fate  of 
the  Colony.  Meanwhile  the  Island  towns  sub- 
mitted silently  to  Coddington's  usurpation,  and 
the  main-land  towns  continued  to  govern  them- 
selves by  their  old  laws,  and  meet  and  deliberate 
as  they  had  done  before  in  their  General  Assem- 
bly. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  dangers  and  dis- 
sensions that  on  the  19th  of  May,  in  the  session 
of  1652,  it  was  "enacted  and  ordered  ....  that 


32  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

no  black  mankind  or  white  being  forced  by  cov- 
enant, bond  or  other  wise  shall  be  held  to  service 
longer  than  ten  years,"  and  that  "  that  man  that 
will  not  let  them  go  free,  or  shall  sell  them  any 
else  where  to  that  end  that  they  may  be  enslaved 
to  others  for  a  longer  time,  hee  or  they  shall  forfeit 
to  the  Colonie  forty  pounds."  This  was  the 
first  legislation  concerning  slavery  on  this  conti- 
nent. If  forty  pounds  should  seem  a  small  pen- 
alty, let  us  remember  that  the  price  of  a  slave 
was  but  twenty.  If  it  should  be  objected  that 
the  act  was  imperfectly  enforced,  let  us  remem- 
ber how  honorable  a  thing  it  is  to  have  been  the 
first  to  solemnly  recognize  a  great  principle. 
Soul  liberty  had  borne  her  first  fruits. 

In  the  same  month  of  May  the  embarrassments 
of  the  Colony  were  increased  by  the  breaking  out 
of  a  war  between  England  and  Holland,  which 
interrupted  the  profitable  commerce  between 
Rhode  Island  and  the  Dutch  of  Manhattan.  But 
welcome  tidings  came  in  September,  and  still 
more  welcome  in  October.  Williams  and  Clarke, 
who  went  hand  in  hand  in  their  mission,  had 
obtained,  first,  permission  for  the  Colony  to  act 
under  the  charter  until  the  final  decision  of  the 
controversy,  and  a  few  weeks  later  the  revoca- 
tion of  Coddington's  commission.  The  charter 
was  fully  restored.  Williams  had  again  proved 
himself  a  consummate  diplomatist,  and  Clarke 
had  proved  himself  worthy  to  be  his  colleague. 
We  shall  soon  see  him  using  his  newly  acquired 
skill  under  more  difficult  circumstances. 


CHAPTEE    VII. 

MOKE  FOREIGN  AND  DOMESTIC  TROUBLES.  —  CIVIL  AND 
CRIMINAL  REGULATIONS  OF  THE  COLONY.— ARRIVAL  OF 
QUAKERS. 

AND  now  it  seemed  as  though  the  little  Colony 
might  peaceably  return  to  its  original  organiza- 
tion and  devote  itself  to  the  development  of  its 
natural  resources.  But  the  spirit  of  dissension 
had  struck  deep.  The  absolute  independence 
which  was  claimed  for  religious  opinion,  led 
some  to  claim  an  equal  independence  for  civil 
action.  If  conscience  was  to  be  the  supreme  test 
in  the  relations  between  man  and  God,  why 
should  not  conscience  decide  between  man  and 
man  ?  Roger  Williams  addressed  a  letter  full  of 
calm  wisdom  to  the  Town  of  Providence,  explain- 
ing, under  the  figure  of  a  ship,  the  distinction 
between  civil  obedience  and  soul  liberty.  A  few 
years  later  an  able  advocate  of  the  opposite 
opinion  was  found  in  William  Harris  ;  and  for  a 
long  while  an  unhealthy  agitation  pervaded  the 
community,  justifying,  in  appearance,  the  un- 
friendly prophecies  of  the  early  enemies  of  Wil- 
liams and  his  doctrines. 

There  was  still  another  ground  of  contention. 
Who  should  take  the  lead  in  restoring  the 
3 


34  HISTORY   OF  RHODE   ISLAND. 

charter  government  ?  The  Island  towns  claimed 
it  on  the  ground  of  superior  wealth  and  popula- 
tion, the  main-land  towns  because  they  had 
always  held  fast  to  their  charter.  Theiv  \\viv 
double  elections  and  two  Assemblies,  and  the 
dispute  grew  so  warm  as  to  threaten  a  permanent 
division.  At  the  same  time  the  Island  towns  en- 
tered zealously  into  the  Dutch  war,  issuing  let- 
ters of  marque  and  making  captures  which  led 
to  new  controversies  with  the  United  Colonies. 
Williams  became  alarmed,  and  leaving  Mr.  Clarke 
in  charge  of  their  common  business  hurried  back 
from  England  to  meet  the  danger.  Sir  Henry 
Vane,  who  had  already  been  a  firm  friend  of 
Rhode  Island,  wrote  in  a  public  letter,  "Are 
there  no  wise  men  among  }~ou  ?  no  public,  self- 
denying  spirits  who  can  find  some  way  of  union 
before  you  become  a  prey  to  your  enemie> : ' 

At  last,  in  August,  1654,  a  full  Court  of  Commis- 
sioners met  at  Warwick,  and  on  the  31st  set  their 
hands  to  articles  of  reunion.  To  meet  the  diffi- 
culties that  arose  from  the  different  acts  of  inde- 
pendent assemblies,  it  was  agreed  that  all  such 
acts  should  be  held  good  for  the  towns  and  per- 
sons who  originally  took  part  in  them.  Then  the 
charter  was  once  more  made  the  fundamental  law 
of  the  land,  and  finally  the  General  Assembly 
recognized  by  fixing  the  number  of  deleu-atvs 
from  each  town  at  six  for  all  purposes  except 
the  election  of  officers.  Two  days  were  then 
devoted  to  general  legislation,  and  among  other 


HISTORY   OF   EIIODE   ISLAND.  35 

acts  the  delicate  question  of  a  Sunday  law  was 
reconciled  with  the  distinguishing  principle  of 
the  Colony,  by  referring  the  matter  to  the  several 
towns  under  the  head  of  a  day  "for  servants  and 
children  to  recreate  themselves." 

As  the  danger  of  civil  commotions  passed  away, 
came  the  danger  of  an  Indian  war.  The  Narra- 
gansetts  had  old  quarrels  with  the  Indians  of 
Long  Island,  and  in  1654  a  new  quarrel  broke 
out  between  them.  For  the  Colony  itself  there 
was  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Narragansetts  with 
whom  it  had  always  maintained  friendly  rela- 
tions. But  should  the  Long  Island  Indians  pre- 
vail, an  inroad  upon  the  main  would  bring  them 
dangerously  near  to  the  new  towns.  The  United 
Colonies,  proceeding  as  usual  with  a  high  hand, 
summoned  Ninigret,  the  chief  sachem  of  the 
Narragansetts,  to  Hartford.  He  refused  to  go, 
saying  that  the  enemy  had  slain  a  sachem' s  son 
and  sixty  of  his  people — all  he  asked  of  the  Eng- 
lish was  that  they  would  let  him  alone.  '-'If 
your  Governor's  son  were  slain,"  he  said,  "and 
several  other  men,  would  you  ask  counsel  of 
another  nation  how  and  when  to  right  your- 
selves?" The  spirit  of  the  Narragansetts  was 
not  yet  broken.  Williams,  who  was  then  Presi- 
dent, wrote  to  the  government  of  Massachusetts 
defending  the  Indians,  asserting  that  the  war  was 
a  war  of  self-defence,  and  that  the  Narragansetts 
had  always  been  true  to  the  English.  But  the 
Commissioners  were  resolved  upon  war,  and  with- 


36    .  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

out  listening  to  his  remonstrances  sent  Captain 
Willard  with  a  body  of  troops  to  seize  the  re- 
fractory chief.  The  wily  Indian  took  post  in  a 
swamp  where  the  troops  were  unable  to  reach 
him.  The  Commissioners  were  sorely  annoyed, 
but  Massachusetts,  listening,  perhaps,  to  the  en- 
ergetic representations  of  Williams,  refused  to 
sanction  the  war,  and  without  her  cooperation  it 
could  not  be  carried  on. 

There  were  still  dissensions  and  jars,  but  the 
Colony  throve  and  grew  in  industry  and  strength. 
Newport  above  all  increased  in  wealth  and  popu- 
lation. In  estimating  the  population,  however, 
we  must  bear  in  mind  that  not  every  inhabitant 
was  a  freeman,  nor  every  resident  a  legal  inhab- 
itant. A  probationary  residence  was  required 
before  the  second  step  was  reached  and  the  resi- 
dent became  an  inhabitant  with  certain  rights  to 
the  common  lands,  the  right  of  sitting  on  the 
jury  and  of  being  chosen  to  some  of  the  lower 
offices.  This,  also,  was  a  period  of  probation, 
and  it  was  only  after  it  had  been  passed  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  freemen  that  the  name  of  the 
new  candidate  could  be  proposed  in  town  meet- 
ing for  full  citizenship.  Even  then  he  had  to 
wait  for  a  second  meeting  before  he  could  be 
admitted  to  all  the  rights  and  distinctions  of  that 
honorable  grade. 

As  a  picture  of  the  times  it  deserves  notice  that 
there  was  still  a  struggle  with  crime  which  called 
for  stocks  and  a  jail ;  that  the  sale  of  liquors  was 


HISTORY   OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  37 

i 

regulated  by  a  license,  and  the  number  of  taverns 
that  could  be  licensed  in  a  single  town  limited  to 
three ;  that  the  bars  were  closed  at  nine  in  the 
evening  ;  that  a  fine  of  ten  pounds  or  whipping, 
"accordinge  as  ye  court  shall  see  meete,"  was  the 
penalty  of  giving  a  blow  in  court ;  that  malicious 
language  was  treated  as  slander  and  made  ground 
for  legal  prosecution.  The  Assembly  seldom  sat 
beyond  three  or  four  days,  and  six  in  the  morn- 
ing was  the  usual  hour  of  entering  upon  the 
business  of  the  day.  Absence  from  roll  call  was 
punished  by  a  fine  of  a  shilling.  As  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  degree  in  which  the  idea  of  the  duties 
of  citizenship  prevailed  over  the  idea  of  the  dig- 
nity of  office,  it  deserves  to  be  recorded  that  when 
the  first  justices'  court  was  established  in  Provi- 
dence for  the  hearing  of  cases  under  forty  shil- 
lings, Roger  Williams  though  President  of  the 
Colony  was  appointed  one  of  the  justices,  and  of 
the  other  two  Thomas  Olney  was  assistant  for 
Providence,  and  Thomas  Harris  a  member  of  the 
Assembly.  The  principle  of  the  reciprocal  obliga- 
tion of  citizen  and  state  seems,  as  we  have  already 
observed,  to  have  found  early  acceptance.  High 
treason  was  recognized  as  a  great  crime  and  pro- 
vision made  for  sending  the  accused  to  England  for 
trial — a  dangerous  measure  even  in  that  early  day, 
and  which  in  the  following  century  became  a  just 
ground  of  alarm.  But  now,  even  Coddington 
not  only  came  off  unharmed  from  his  daring 
usurpation,  but  appears  again  in  1656  as  member 


38  HISTORY    OF   EHODE   ISLAND. 

of  the  Court  of  Trials.  A  written  submission  and 
a  fine  for  refusing  to  give  up  the  public  records 
were  the  only  penalties  that  he  paid  for  his 
offence.  Early  provision  was  made  for  the  pro- 
tection of  marriage,  and  to  give  it  that  publicity 
which  is  essential  to  security  the  bans  were  an- 
nounced in  town  meeting,  or  at  the  head  of  a 
company  on  training  days,  or  by  a  written  declara- 
tion signed  by  a  magistrate  and  set  up  in  some 
place  of  common  resort.  If  objections  were  made 
the  parties  were  heard  by  a  tribunal  of  two 
magistrates,  or  for  final  decision  by  the  Court  of 
Trials.  Freedom  in  the  young  society  was  always 
connected  with  morality. 

There  were  still  questions  to  arrange  with  Mas- 
sachusetts, which  had  not  yet  given  up  the  hope 
of  enlarging  her  territory  at  the  expense  of 
her  diminutive  neighbors.  The  Pawtuxet  con- 
troversy which  began  almost  with  the  beginning 
of  the  Colony,  was  a  fruitful  source  of  anxiety 
till  1658,  when  it  was  finally  settled  by  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  claims  of  Rhode  Island, 
Roger  Williams  again  appearing  in  his  favorite 
character  of  mediator.  Hog  Island,  at  the  mouth 
of  Bristol  harbor,  gave  rise  to  other  disputes 
which  extended  through  several  years.  In  the 
original  purchase  of  Aquidneck  the  grass  only 
had  been  bought.  To  secure  the  fee  of  the  land 
itself  a  second  purchase  was  required.  Other 
purchases  also  were  made,  which  gave  rise  to 
long  and  vexatious  disputes.  Small  as  it  was,  it 


HISTOEY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  39 

was  almost  inch  by  inch  that  Rhode  Island  won 
its  narrow  territory. 

From  time  to  time,  also,  there  were  alarms  of 
Indians.  In  1656  their  movements  excited  so 
much  apprehension  in  Providence,  that  a  fort 
was  built  on  Stamper' s  Hill  for  the  protection  of 
the  town.  In  this  same  year  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  governments  of  Rhode  Island 
and  of  Massachusetts  were  brought  into  striking 
contrast  by  the  arrival  of  the  Quakers.  In  Massa- 
chusetts they  were  imprisoned,  scourged,  muti- 
lated, put  to  death,  and  with  the  increase  of 
persecution  increased  in  numbers.  In  Rhode 
Island  they  were  allowed  to  follow  their  own  con- 
victions and  became  useful  and  industrious  citi- 
zens. And  when  the  United  Colonies  urged  the 
General  Assembly,  not  without  threats,  to  join  in 
the  persecution,  it  appealed  to  Cromwell,  asking 
"that  it  might  not  be  compelled  to  exercise  any 
civil  power  over  men's  consciences  so  long  as 
human  orders,  in  point  of  civility,  are  not  cor- 
rupted or  violated." 

In  these  days  great  changes  were  taking  place 
in  England.  Cromwell  was  dead.  Richard  Crom- 
well soon  resigned  the  Protectorate.  A  general 
reaction  for  royalty  followed,  and  Charles  II. 
was  received  as  King  with  general  satisfaction. 
How  would  the  young  and  dissolute  monarch 
look  upon  the  claims  of  Rhode  Island  \  It  was 
well  for  her  that  at  this  perilous  moment  she  was 
represented  at  the  new  court  by  so  earnest,  clear- 


40  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

headed  and  dexterous  a  diplomatist  as  John 
Clarke.  By  his  exertions  a  new  charter  was  ob- 
tained, and,  on  the  24th  of  November,  1663,  ac- 
cepted "at  a  very  great  meeting  and  assembly  of 
the  Colony  of  Providence  Plantations,  at  New- 
port, in  Rhode  Island,  in  New  England."  With 
the  adoption  of  this  charter  begins  a  new  period 
in  the  history  of  Rhode  Island. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

TROUBLES  IN  OBTAINING  A  NEW  CHARTER.— PROVISIONS  OF 
THE  CHARTER.— DIFFICULTIES  CONCERNING  THE  NARRA- 
GANSETT  PURCHASE.— CURRENCY.— SCHOOLS. 

THE  charter  of  Charles  II.  was  a  practical  rec- 
ognition of  the  right  of  self-government.  The 
government  which  it  established,  like  that  insti- 
tuted by  the  colonists  in  their  first  organization, 
was  a  pure  democracy,  emanating  from  the  peo- 
ple and  framed  for  their  good.  In  form  it  con- 
sisted of  a  Governor,  a  Deputy-Governor,  ten 
assistants,  and  a  House  of  Deputies,  six  of  whom 
represented  Newport,  four  Providence,  four 
Portsmouth,  four  Warwick,  and  two  each  other 
towns.  The  first  appointments  of  Governor, 
Deputy-Governor,  and  assistants,  as  preparatory 
to  a  permanent  organization,  were  made  by  the 
King.  The  organization  once  effected,  they  were 
chosen  annually  at  Newport,  on  the  first  Wednes- 
day in  May.  The  deputies  were  elected  by  the 
people  in  their  respective  towns.  Thus  election 
day  became  the  great  civil  festival  of  the  year, 
bringing  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  together  to 
interchange  thoughts  and  feelings,  and  make 
merry  with  their  wives  and  children  in  the  chief 
town  of  the  Colony. 


42  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Although  the  new  charter  was  negotiated  by 
John  Clarke,  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognize  in 
it  the  spirit  of  Roger  Williams.  The  original 
right  of  the  natives  to  the  soil  was  acknowledged, 
practically,  in  other  colonies ;  but  it  was  ac- 
knowledged as  subordinate  to  the  right  of  the 
King.  The  royal  grant  preceded  the  actual  pur- 
chase. But  in  Rhode  Island  the  royal  grant  fol- 
lowed the  Indian  title-deed,  and  was  never  ac- 
cepted as  sufficient  of  itself  to  justify  the  occupa- 
tion of  Indian  territory.  This  doctrine,  so  widely 
at  variance  with  the  received  doctrine  of  the  age, 
stood  first  in  the  list  of  heresies  for  which  Mti  - 
chusetts  had  driven  Roger  Williams  into  exile. 

No  less  prominent  in  the  second  charter  was 
that  great  principle  which  had  formed  the  lead- 
ing characteristic  of  the  first.  "Xoe  person."  it 
says,  ;i within  the  sayd  colonye,  at  any  tyme 
hereafter,  shall  be  any  wise  molested,  punished, 
disquieted,  or  called  in  question,  for  any  dif- 
ference of  opinion  in  matters  of  religion  which 
doe  not  actually  disturb  the  civill  peace  of  our 
sayd  colonye;  but  that  all  and  everye  person 
may,  from  tyme  to  tyme  and  at  all  tymes  here- 
after, freelye  and  fullye  have  and  enjoy  his  and 
their  own  judgments  and  consciences,  in  matters 
of  religious  concernments,  through  the  tract  of 
lande  hereafter  mentioned,  they  behaving  them- 
selves peaceablie  and  quietlie,  and  not  using  this 
libertye  to  licentiousness,  and  profaneness,  nor 
to  the  civill  injurye  or  outward  disturbance  of 
others." 


HISTORY   OF.    KHODE   ISLAND.  43 

There  was  much  work  for  the  new  Assembly  to 
do,  and  it  addressed  itself  promptly  to  the  task. 
The  statute  book  contained  laws  which,  arising 
from  circumstances  no  longer  existing,  were  ''in- 
consistent with  the  present  government."  To  weed" 
these  out  and  replace  them  by  others  better  suited 
to  the  new  order  of  things,  was  an  early  object  of 
attention.  Hitherto  the  assistants  had  not  been 
vested  with  legislative  authority.  They  now  held 
it  by  the  charter,  and  henceforth  acted  in  con- 
junction with  the  deputies,  a  change  which  at  a 
later  day  led  to  the  division  into  two  houses. 
The  increase  of  population  brought  with  it  an 
increase  of  litigation.  The  original  courts  were 
not  sufficient  to  meet  the  demand  for  legal  pro- 
tection. They  were  reorganized. 

There  were  two  general  courts  of  trials,  com- 
posed of  the  Governor,  writh  or  without  the  aid 
of  the  Deputy-Governor,  and  of  a  body  of  assist- 
ants whose  number  was  never  less  than  six. 
Their  place  of  meeting  was  Newport,  the  seat  of 
government  and  largest  town,  and  their  regular 
sessions  were  held  in  May  and  October.  Provi- 
dence and  Warwick  had  each  a  court  of  trials — 
Providence  in  September  and  Warwick  in  March. 
But  in  these,  as  if  in  indication  of  their  subor- 
dinate authority,  neither  the  Governor  nor  the 
Deputy-Governer  had  a  seat,  and  the  number  of 
assistants  absolutely  required  to  give  validity  to 
its  acts  was  reduced  from  six  to  three.  To  com- 
plete their  organization  twelve  jurors  were  added, 


44  HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

six  from  each  town.  Their  decision,  however, 
was  not  final,  and  the  cases  which  they  had  tried 
could  be  carried  by  appeal  to  the  General  Court. 
To  quicken  the  tardy  steps  of  justice  any  litigant 
'who  was  willing  to  bear  the  expense,  might, 
with  the  sanction  of  the  Governor  or  Deputy- 
Governor,  have  a  special  court  convened  for  the 
immediate  decision  of  his  cause. 

The  grand  and  petty  jurors  were  chosen  from 
the  four  towns,  five  of  each  from  Newport,  three 
from  Portsmouth,  and  two  from  Providence  and 
Warwick  respectively.  The  same  superiority  was 
accorded  to  Newport  in  the  apportionment  of  state 
officers,  five  of  whom  were  required  to  live  there. 
In  this,  however,  Providence  outranks  Ports- 
mouth, having  three  allotted  to  her  for  her  por- 
tion, while  Portsmouth  had  but  two.  The  duties 
of  coroner  were  performed  by  the  assistant  "near- 
est the  place  occasion  shall  present." 

Another  grave  question  met  them  on  the  thresh- 
old of  their  work  of  organization.  The  charter 
left  a  doubt  concerning  the  manner  of  choosing 
the  state  magistrates.  Should  they  be  elected  by 
the  freemen  in  town  meeting,  or  by  the  General 
Assembly?  The  democratic  instinct  prevailed, 
and  the  choice  was  left  to  the  freemen. 

There  was  a  still  graver  question  to  be  decided, 
requiring  firmness,  self-control  and  skilled  diplo- 
macy. Rhode  Island  had  never  been  looked  upon 
by  Massachusetts  with  friendly  eyes.  That  a 
banished  man  should  have  become  the  founder  of 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  45 

a  new  colony  close  upon  her  borders  was  irritat- 
ing to  her  pride.  That  his  success  as  a  colonizer 
should  have  cut  her  off  from  the  beautiful  Narra- 
gansett  Bay  was  humiliating  to  her  ambition  of 
territorial  aggrandizement.  That  a  freedom  of 
conscience  subversive  of  her  theological  dogmas 
should  have  been  the  fundamental  principle  of 
the  new  government  was  irritating  to  her  bigotry. 
Thus,  although  she  did  not  hesitate  to  avail  her- 
self of  the  good  offices  of  Roger  Williams  to  avert 
a  dangerous  war,  she  did  not  scruple  to  forbid  the 
sale  to  citizens  of  Rhode  Island  of  the  powder  and 
arms  which  they  needed  for  their  own  protection, 
and  exclude  them  from  the  league  which  the  other 
colonies  of  New  England  had  formed  for  their 
common  defence.  When,  in  1642,  four  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  Pawtuxet  factiously  put 
themselves  under  her  protection,  she  greedily 
seized  the  opportunity  of  securing  for  herself  a 
foothold  in  the  coveted  territory.  It  was  not  till 
1658  that  this  dangerous  dispute  was  settled  and 
the  perpetual  menace  of  mutilation  removed  from 
the  northern  district  of  the  Colony  soon  to  reap- 
pear in  the  southern.  Amid  the  fresh  recollections 
of  this  contest,  the  General  Assembly  passed  a  law 
forbidding,  under  the  penalty  of  confiscation,  the 
introduction  of  a  foreign  authority  within  the 
limits  of  the  Colony.  Both  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  laid  claim  to  Narragansett,  a  valua- 
ble tract  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Colony  and 
controlling  the  communication  with  the  bay  of 


46  HISTOKY   QF   RHODE    ISLAND. 

that  name.  The  claim  of  Rhode  Island  was 
founded  upon  purchase,  and  although  her  physi- 
cal inferiority  left  her  no  hope  of  success  except 
through  an  appeal  to  the  King,  she  was  none  the 
less  vigilant  in  defending  her  rights.  The  neces- 
sity of  this  watchfulness  was  soon  made  manifest, 
for  scarce  a  year  had  passed  from  the  passage  of 
the  prohibitory  law,  when,  in  direct  violation  of 
its  provisions,  a  company  of  aliens  purchased 
Quidneset  and  Namcook,  two  large  and  valuable 
tracts  on  Narragansett  Bay.  It  was  like  throw- 
ing down  the  gauntlet  to  the  little  Colony,  for  it 
was  only  by  supporting  the  pretensions  of  Mas- 
sachusetts or  Connecticut  that  the  purchasers 
could  hope  to  make  their  title  good.  An  artful 
attempt  was  made  to  obtain  the  sanction  of  Roger 
Williams' s  name  by  offering  him,  under  the  title 
of  interpreter,  a  liberal  grant  of  land.  But  the 
loyal  old  man  refused  to  connect  himself  in  any 
way  with  the  illegal  act,  and  warned  the  company 
of  the  dangerous  ground  whereon  they  were 
treading. 

The  warning  was  not  heeded,  and  Humphrey 
Atherton,  John  Wiuthrop  and  their  associates, 
completing  their  bargain  with  the  Indians,  claimed 
the  tracts  as  theirs  by  lawful  purchase.  New 
complications  followed.  The  very  next  year  the 
Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  following 
up  their  aggressive  policy  towards  the  Xarragan- 
srtts,  imposed  upon  the  feeble  remnant  of  the  once 
powerful  tribe  a  heavy  fine  for  alleged  injuries 


H1STOEY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  47 

to  the  Mohegans,  and  compelled  them  to  mort- 
gage their  whole  territory  for  the  payment  of  it. 
Atherton  paid  the  fine,  and  held  that  his  claim 
was  strengthened  by  this  act  of  unjustifiable  vio- 
lence. 

For  a  time  hopes  were  entertained  of  inducing 
the  company  to  accept  the  jurisdiction  of  Rhode 
Island,  but  they  were  futile.  The  attempt  of 
either  party  to  exercise  legal  authority  in  the  dis- 
puted territory  was  a  signal  for  the  active  inter- 
vention of  the  other.  It  was  soon  evident  that 
the  decision  must  be  referred  to  England.  For- 
tunately for  Rhode  Island,  John  Clarke  was  still 
there. 

Agents  from  Connecticut,  also,  were  there  peti- 
tioning for  a  new  charter,  and  their  petition  was  en- 
forced by  the  wise  and  virtuous  John  Winthrop. 
Court  favor  came  to  his  aid,  and  he  used  it  judi- 
ciously. The  venerable  Lord  Say  and  Seal  lent 
him  the  influence  of  his  name,  and  the  skillful 
negotiator  dexterously  reviving  the  memory  of 
the  intercourse  between  his  father  and  Charles  the 
First,  succeeded  in  touching  for  a  moment  the 
callous  heart  of  Charles  II.  In  the  season  of  that 
intercourse  Charles  had  given  Winthrop  a  curious 
and  valuable  ring,  and  now  when  the  son  of  the 
subject  came  before  the  son  of  the  King  as  a  sup- 
pliant for  a  charter  for  his  distant  home,  he  bore 
that  ring  in  his  hand  as  a  record  of  kind  feelings 
on  one  side  and  reverential  observance  on  the 
other.  The  plea  was  successful,  and,  on  the 


48  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

30th  of  May,  1662,  a  charter  was  granted.  In 
this  charter  the  eastern  boundary  of  Connecticut 
was  extended  to  Narragansett  River,  and  Xarra- 
gansett  River  it  was  claimed  was  Xarragausett 
Bay. 

Great  was  the  indignation  of  Rhode  Island 
when  the  tidings  of  this  arbitrary  mutilation  of 
her  territory  reached  her.  It  was  like  introduc- 
ing a  foreign  jurisdiction  into  the  heart  of  the 
Colony,  and  stripping  it  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen 
of  some  of  the  chief  advantages  which  it  had 
promised  itself  from  its  long  and  painful  labor  of 
colonization.  There  was  but  one  hope  left,  and 
that  lay  in  the  wisdom  and  firmness  of  John 
Clarke.  The  trust  was  well  placed.  Xot  for  a 
moment  did  the  brave  man  lose  heart  or  suffer 
himself  to  grow  weary  in  his  difficult  task.  Of 
the  details  of  his  negotiations  no  accurate  record 
has  been  preserved,  but  we  know  that,  possessing 
no  means  of  corruption,  even  if  his  noble  nature 
could  have  stooped  to  it,  he  placed  his  confidence 
in  the  justice  of  his  cause.  In  negotiating  for  a 
charter  he  had  presented  two  elaborate  petitions 
to  the  King,  giving  a  rapid  sketch  of  the  origin 
and  principles  of  the  Colon}',  and  asking  for  •  •  a 
more  absolute,  ample,  and  free  charter  of  civill 
incorporation,''  as  for  men  who  ;thad  it  much 
on  their  hearts  (if  they  may  be  permitted)  to  hold 
a  lively  experiment,  that  a  flourishing  free  state 
may  stand,  yea.  and  best  be  maintained,  and  that 
among  English  spirits,  with  a  full  liberty  in  re- 
ligious concernments." 


HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  49 

» 

The  question  of  a  charter  was  for  the  King  to 
decide,  and  we  have  already  seen  how  he  decided 
it.  But  the  question  of  boundaries  was  within 
the  competence  of  the  agents  of  the  two  colonies. 
After  much  discussion  it  was  decided  to  refer  it 
to  arbitration.  Four  arbitrators  were  chosen, 
and  on  the  7th  of  April,  1663,  they  rendered  their 
award  in  four  articles,  by  one  of  which  the  Paw- 
catuck  River  was  made  the  eastern  boundary  of 
Connecticut.  The  Atherton  company  was  left 
free  to  decide  under  which  of  the  two  jurisdic- 
tions it  would  live. 

As  long  as  Winthrop  remained,  although 
Clarke  had  much  to  apprehend  from  his  open 
opposition,  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  secret 
intrigues  or  willful  misinterpretation.  But  not 
all  the  advocates  of  the  Atherton  purchase  were 
like  John  Winthrop.  False  claims  will  always 
find  base  agents,,  and  no  sooner  was  Winthrop 
gone  than  one  of  these  willing  instruments  of 
wrong  pressed  eagerly  forward  to  his  loathsome 
office.  His  name  was  John  Scott,  and  the  record 
of  his  meanness  has  been  preserved  in  his  own 
hand.  "Mr.  Winthrop,"  begins  his  confidential 
correspondence  with  Captain  Hutchinson,  the 
corresponding  agent  of  the  company,  "was  very 
averse  to  my  prosecuting  your  affairs,  he  having 
had  much  trouble  with  Mr.  Clarke  whiles  he 
remained  in  England ;  but  as  soon  as  I  received 
intelligence  of  his  departure  from  the  Downes,  1 
took  into  the  society  a  Potent  Gentleman  and 


50  HISTORY   OF   RHODE    ISLAXD. 

* 

prepared  a  Petition  against  Clarke.  &c.,  as 
enemy es  to  the  peace  and  well  being  of  his 
Majesty e's  good  subjects,  and  doubt  not  effecting 
the  premises  in  convenient  tyme,  and  in  order  to 
accomplish  yr  businesse,  I  have  bought  of  Mr. 
Edwards  a  parcel  of  curiosityes  to  ye  value  of 
sixty  pounds  ;  to  gratifye  persons  that  are  pow- 
erfull,  that  there  may  be  a  Letter  filled  with 
Awthorising  Expressions  to  the  Collom-es  of  the 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  that  the  propri- 
etors of  the  Xarraganset  countrye.  shall  not  only 
live  peaceably,  but  have  satisfaction  for  Injuryes 
already  received  by  some  of  the  saide  Proprietors 
and  the  power  y*  shall  be  soe  invested  <  viz)  the 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  by  virtue  of  the 
saide  letter  will  joyntlye  and  severallye.  have  full 
power  to  do  us  justice  to  all  intents,  as  to  our 
Xarraganset  concernes." 

For  a  moment  it  seemed  as  though  this  vile 
intrigue  were  about  to  succeed.  A  letter  from  the 
King  to  the  United  Colonies  was  obtained,  recom- 
mending the  interests  of  the  Atherton  company 
to  their  protection.  John  Scott's  "curiosin 
had  done  their  work.  The  "Potent  Gentleman  " 
had  not  failed  him.  The  little  Colony  lay  un- 
armed at  the  feet  of  its  powerful  enemies.  But  the 
triumph  was  short.  John  Clarke  was  carefully 
bringing  his  negotiations  for  a  new  charter  to  a 
close.  Surrounded  by  bitter  and  unscrupulous 
adversaries  he  still  kept  his  own  counsel,  kept 
the  object  of  his  mission  constantly  in  view,  and, 


HISTORY    OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  51 

after  much  weary  waiting  and  watching,  came  out 
triumphant.  The  charter  of  Charles  the  Second, 
as  I  have  already  stated,  which  so  long  served 
the  Colony  as  a  constitution  and  exercised  such 
a  controlling  influence  upon  her  development, 
passed  the  seals  on  the  8th  of  July,  1663.  By  this 
charter  the  western  boundary  line  was  fixed  at 
Pawcatuck  River,  "any  Grant  or  Claim  in  a  late 
Grant  to  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Connecti- 
cut Colony  in  America  to  the  contrary  thereof 
in  any  wise  notwithstanding."  Thus  the  Pawca- 
tuck River  was  henceforth  to  be  held  as  the  same 
with  the  Narragansett  River,  and  the  question  of 
western  boundary  decided  in  accordance  with  the 
agreement,  which,  "after  much  debate,"  Clarke 
and  Winthrop  had  both  signed  in  the  names  of 
their  respective  colonies.  It  is  evident  that  there 
was  much  ignorance,  and  no  very  firm  principle 
of  action  with  regard  to  the  colonies  in  the  cab- 
inet of  the  second  Charles. 

While  these  events  were  passing  an  important 
change  took  place  in  the  commercial  medium  of 
the  country.  When  the  colonists  first  began  to 
trade  with  the  natives,  they  found  them  already 
advanced  in  their  buyings  and  sellings  from  the 
primitive  barter  of  product  for  product  to  the 
use  of  a  fixed  medium  of  exchange.  This  me- 
dium, indeed,  was  of  a  purely  conventional  char- 
acter. There  were  neither  mines  of  gold,  nor 
mines  of  silver,  nor  mines  of  copper  to  perform 
the  office  of  money.  But  the  waters  of  their 
rivers  and  bays  yielded  an  abundant  supply  of 


52  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

shells,  and  these  they  wrought  with  much  in- 
genuity into  beads  ;  the  periwinkle  furnishing 
the  material  for  the  lower  values,  six  of  its  white 
shells  being  held  at  an  English  penny,  while  the 
dark  eye  of  the  quahog  or  round  clam,  smoothed 
by  grinding,  and  polished  and  drilled,  was  rated 
at  twice  the  value  of  the  white  shell.  Both  were 
known  as  wampum  or  peage.  As  money  belts 
of  wampum  were  counted  by  the  fathom,  three 
hundred  and  sixty  of  the  white  passing  for  five 
shillings  sterling,  and  a  fathom  of  the  black 
being  worth  twice  as  much  as  a  fathom  of  the 
white.  Like  the  metallic  medium  of  other  coun- 
tries they  served  also  for  personal  decoration, 
supplying  the  Indian  belles  and  beaux  with  their 
necklaces  and  bracelets,  and  princes  with  the 
most  valued  ornaments  of  their  regalia.  When 
used  for  this  purpose  they  were  wrought  into 
girdles,  or  worn  as  a  scarf  about  the  shoulders, 
great  pains  being  taken  and  not  a  little  skill 
displayed  in  arranging  the  colors  in  various  fig- 
ures. The  mints  in  which  this  primitive  money 
was  coined  were  on  the  sea-shore,  where  shells  were 
found  in  great  abundance,  and  so  well  was  this 
simple  article  adapted  to  the  wants  and  the  tastes 
of  the  aborigines  that  it  passed  current  six  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  coast,  and  was  used  by 'the 
colonists  in  all  their  bargains  with  the  natives. 
But  shells  like  metals  and  paper  are  subject  to 
the  same  inexorable  laws  of  trade.  When  beaver 
skins  became  plenty  in  the  colonial  market  and 
wampum  was  made  in  larger  quantities,  it  fell 


HISTORY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  53 

from  ten  shillings  a  fathom  to  five,  and  the  Indian 
hunter  thought  it  hard  that  an  equal  number  of 
furs  should  bring  him  but  half  as  much  wampum 
as  before.  Like  all  money,  also,  wampum  was 
liable  to  be  counterfeited,  and  even  in  that  rude 
commerce  there  were  men  who  preferred  the  ill- 
gotten  gain  of  the  counterfeiter  to  the  fruit  of 
honest  industry.  Fortunately  for  the  native  he 
was  quick  in  detecting  the  fraud,  and  never  failed 
to  exact  full  compensation.  But  wampum,  like 
the  race  for  whom  it  was  made,  was  una- 
ble to  hold  its  ground  against  the  advancing  civ- 
ilization. We  have  seen  it  reduced  to  half  its 
original  value  by  overissues  and  the  increasing 
supply  of  furs  in  the  colonial  market.  Gradually 
it  began  to  disappear.  Rhode  Island  continued 
to  use  it  long  after  it  had  ceased  to  be  current  in 
colonies  where  the  intercourse  with  Europe  was 
more  direct.  Massachusetts  had  begun  ,to  coin 
silver  in  1652,  but  Rhode  Island  continued  to 
accept  wampum  as  a  legal  tender  for  ten  years 
longer,  when  it  reached  its  lowest  point,  and,  like 
the  Continental  money  of  a  century  later,  was 
abolished  by  statute.  Thenceforth  all  taxes  and 
costs  of  court  were  exacted  in  "current  pay" 
in  sterling  that  is,  or  in  New  England  coin  of 
thirty  shillings  New  England  to  twenty-two  shil- 
lings sixpence  sterling. 

Nothing  has  .been  said  thus  far  of  the  measures 
taken  by  the  young  Colony  for  the  establishment 
of  schools.  Newport,  though  only  in  the  second 
year  of  her  settlement,  took  the  lead  in  1640,  by 


54  HISTORY   OF   KHODE   ISLAND. 

"calling  Mr.  Robert  Lenthall  to  keep  a  school 
for  the  learning  of  youth,  and  for  his  encour- 
agement there  was  granted  to  him  and  his  heirs 
one  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  four  more  for  a 
house  lot."  In  the  same  meeting  it  was  voted: 
"That  one  hundred  acres  should  be  laid  forth  and 
appropriated  for  a  school,  for  the  encouragement 
of  the  poorer  sort,  to  train  up  their  youth  in 
learning,  and  Mr.  Robert  Lenthall,  while  he 
continues  to  keep  school,  is  to  have  the  benefit 
thereof."  The  wise  example  was  followed  by 
Providence  in  1663.  and  at  May  town  meeting  a 
hundred  acres  of  upland  and  six  acres  of  meadow 
were  reserved  for  the  support  of  a  school. 

But  in  nothing  perhaps  does  the  character  of 
the  Colony  appear  to  more  advantage  than  in  the 
law  of  oaths.  "Forasmuch,"  reads  the  statute, 
"as  the  consciences  of  sundry  men,  truly  con- 
scionable,  may  scruple  the  giving  or  the  tak- 
ing of  an  oath,  and  it  would  be  no  wise  suitable 
to  the  nature  and  constitution  of  our  place,  who 
profess  ourselves  to  be  men  of  different  con- 
sciences, and  not  one  willing  to  force  another,  to 
debar  such  as  cannot  do  so,  either  from  bearing 
office  among  us,  or  from  giving  in  testimony  in  a 
case  depending ;  be  it  enacted  by  the  authority 
of  this  present  Assembly,  that  a  solemn  profes- 
sion or  testimony  in  a  court  of  record,  or  before 
a  judge  of  record,  shall  be  accounted  through- 
out the  whole  colony,  of  as  full  force  as  an  oath." 
So  strong  was  the  hold  which  the  principle  of 
soul  liberty  had  taken  of  the  public  mind. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

TERRITORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  IS  INCREASED  BY  THE  ADDI- 
TION OF  BLOCK  ISLAND. — DISPUTES  BETWEEN  BLOCK  ISLAND 
AND  THE  OTHER  COLONIES  SETTLED  BY  ROYAL  COMMAND. — 
STATE  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  THE  COLONY  IN  1667. 

THE  charter  came  at  a  fortunate  moment,  for 
petition  and  remonstrance  had  reached  their 
utmost,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  little  Col- 
ony could  have  preserved  the  integrity  of  its  ter- 
ritory much  longer  against  two  such  powerful 
neighbors  but  for  the  intervention  of  an  authority 
that  was  recognized  by  all.  The  services  of  John 
Clarke  must  be  estimated  by  the  imminence  of 
the  danger,  and  his  skill  by  the  difficulty  of  the 
negotiation.  Meanwhile  the  territories  of  Rhode 
Island  were  enlarged  in  another  direction. 

Block  Island  has  already  been  mentioned  in 
connection  with  the  Pequot  war.  In  1658  it  was 
granted  by  Massachusetts,  in  whose  hands  the 
war  had  left  it,  to  Governor  John  Endicott  and 
three  others,  as  a  reward  for  their  public  services. 
Endicott  and  his  associates  sold  it  to  Simon 
Ray  and  eight  associates,  who,  in  1661,  enteied 
upon  their  work  of  colonization  by  liquidating  the 
Indian  title  with  a  reservation  in  favor  of  the 
natives,  and  setting  apart  one-sixteenth  of  the 


-56       •  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

lands  for  the  support  of  a  minister  forever.  The 
new  settlement  had  not  yet  reached  its  third  year 
when  it  passed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Rhode 
Island,  and,  in  the  May  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  for  1663,  was  summoned  to  appear  at 
the  bar  of  the  house  and  be  regularly  received 
into  the  Colony.  At  the  appointed  time  three 
messengers  presented  themselves,  bringing  the 
submission  of  the  inhabitants  to  "his  Majesty's 
will,"  and  a  petition  of  householders  for  the  free- 
dom of  the  island.  Three  select  men  were  chosen 
to  govern  it  with  power  to  "call  town  meetings/' 
hear  causes  under  forty  shillings,  and  where  a 
greater  amount  was  involved,  grant  appeals  to  the 
General  Court  of  Trials,  and  "issue  warrants  in 
criminal  cases."  Their  representation  in  the  As- 
sembly was  fixed  at  two,  and  their  attention  was 
called  to  the  clause  in  the  charter  declaring  free- 
dom of  conscience.  The  question  of  a  harbor  for 
the  encouragement  of  the  fisheries  soon  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  Assembly,  and,  as  early  as 
1665,  we  find  John  Clarke  with  the  Governor  and 
Deputy -Governor  examining  this  important  sub- 
ject on  the  spot.  But  it  was  no  work  for  a  feeble 
Colony,  and  it  was  not  till  two  hundred  years  later 
and  under  a  rich  and  powerful  national  govern- 
ment that  it  was  begun.  Meanwhile  the  popula- 
tion grew  and  throve  under  colonial  protection. 
Nine  years  after  its  first  civil  organization  Block 
Island  was  incorporated  under  the  name  of  New 
Shoreham,  "as  sign,"  say  the  petitioners,  "of 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  57 

our  unity  and  likeness  to  many  parts  of  our  na- 
tive country." 

The  conflict  of  patents  did  not  end  with  the 
promulgation  of  the  second  charter.  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut  still  persisted  in  their 
claims,  and  Rhode  Island  in  her  resistance.  For- 
tunately for  her  the  final  decision  lay  with  the 
Crown,  and,  although  both  of  the  intruding  colo- 
nies made  repeated  attempts  to  set  up  govern- 
ments of  their  own  within  the  limits  of  the  dis- 
puted territory,  they  were  restrained  from  per- 
sistent violence  by  the  knowledge  that  Rhode 
Island  claimed  and  was  prepared  to  exercise 
the  right  of  appeal.  An  opportunity  soon  offered 
of  making  an  important  step  towards  decision. 
Four  Commissioners — Colonel  Richard  Nichols, 
Sir  Robert  Carr,  George  Cartwright  and  Samuel 
Maverick — were  ordered  to  proceed  to  America, 
reduce  the  Dutch  provinces,  and  decide  all  ques- 
tions of  appeal,  jurisdiction  and  boundary  be- 
tween the  colonies.  On  their  arrival  in  New 
York  harbor,  where  they  made  the  British  fleet 
their  headquarters,  Rhode  Island  sent  a  deputa- 
tion of  three,  with  John  Clarke  at  their  head,  to 
welcome  the  Royal  Commissioners  in  the  name  of 
the  Colony. 

They  set  themselves  promptly  to  their  work. 
The  first  question  that  came  up  for  decision  was 
the  boundary  line  between  Rhode  Island  and 
Plymouth.  This  they  were  unable  to  settle,  and 
reserved  it  for  reference  to  the  King.  Next  came 


.">8  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

the  vexed  question  of  Xarragansett.  The  sub- 
mission of  the  sachems  was  confirmed,  an  annual 
tribute  of  two  wolf-skins  imposed,  and  the  right 
to  make  war  and  sell  land  reserved  to  the  author- 
ities set  over  them  by  the  Crown.  A  new  division 
of  the  territory  followed,  all  of  the  land  west  of 
the  Bay,  the  southern  half  of  the  present  Kent 
County,  being  set  apart  as  King's  Province,  under 
the  administration  of  the  Governor  and  Council 
of  Rhode  Island,  as  magistrates  of  King's  Prov- 
ince. Last  came  the  bitter  Warwick  question, 
which  had  almost  led  to  bloodshed.  This  was 
decided  in  favor  of  Rhode  Island,  upon  the 
ground  that  no  colony  had  a  right  to  exercise 
jurisdiction  beyond  its  chartered  limits.  It  would 
have  been  well  for  the  three  colonies  if  the  dis- 
pute had  ended  here.  But  neither  Massachusetts 
nor  Connecticut  was  satisfied.  It  was  hard  to 
give  up  the  beautiful  Narragansett  Bay.  "the 
largest,"  say  the  Commissioners,  "and  safest 
port  in  New  England,  nearest  the  sea  and  fittest 
for  trade." 

The  Indian  was  fast  disappearing,  and  some- 
times under  circumstances  which  awaken  a  nat- 
ural regret  that  where  adverse  civilizations  met 
so  little  could  be  done  for  the  individual.  The 
old  Sachem  Pumham  still  clung  to  his  home  in 
the  woodlands  of  Warwick  Neck,  encouraged,  it 
was  believed,  by  the  hope  of  support  from  Mas-a- 
chusetts.  John  Eliot,  the  translator  of  the  Bible 
interceded  for  him.  Roger  Williams  asked  for  a 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  59 

little  delay  till  the  harvest  was  in.  But  twenty 
years  experience  had  shown  that  his  residence 
there  was  incompatible  with  the  peace  of  the 
Colony.  Sir  Robert  Carr,  the  Royal  Commis- 
sioner, met  Eliot's  intercession  by  sending  him 
copies  of  all  the  papers  relating  to  the  question, 
and  so  far  satisfied  the  scruples  of  Williams  as 
to  secure  his  hearty  cooperation  in  the  removal 
of  this  thorn  from  the  side  of  the  struggling 
Colony.  Thirty  pounds  were  paid  into  the  hands 
of  the  old  chief,  a  large  sum  for  those  days  of 
general  poverty,  and  he  removed  forever  beyond 
the  limits  of  King' s  Province. 

The  Royal  Commissioners  on  their  arrival  in 
Rhode  Island  had  laid  before  the  Assembly  five 
propositions  as  "the  will  and  pleasure  of  the 
King:" 

"1st.  That  all  householders  inhabiting  the 
Colony  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  that  the 
administration  of  justice  be  in  his  Majesty's 
name." 

This  brought  up  the  delicate  question  of  oaths, 
which,  recurring  from  time  to  time,  was  gradually 
shaped  by  successive  modifications  so  as  to  meet 
the  demands  of  government  without  infringing 
upon  the  principle  of  soul-liberty. 

"2d.  That  all  men  of  competent  estates  and 
of  civil  conversation,  who  acknowledge  and  are 
obedient  to  the  civil  magistrate,  though  of  differ- 
ent judgments,  may  be  admitted  to  be  freemen 


60  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

and  have  liberty  to  chose  and  to  be  chosen,  offi- 
cers, both  military  and  civil." 

This  was  accepted  and  the  mode  of  admitting 
freemen  prescribed. 

"3d.  That  all  men  and  women  of  orthodox 
opinion,  competent  knowledge  and  civil  lives, 
who  acknowledge  and  are  obedient  to  the  civil 
magistrate  and  are  not  scandalous,  may  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  their  children  to  Baptism,  if  they  desire  it, 
either  by  admitting  them  into  the  congregations 
already  gathered,  or  permitting  them  to  gather 
themselves  into  such  congregations  where  they 
may  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  Sacraments,  and 
that  difference  of  opinion  ma}*  not  break  the 
bonds  of  peace  and  charity." 

If  we  interpret  the  word  orthodox  according  to 
the  Rhode  Island  standard  of  theological  interpre- 
tation, this  was  already  Rhode  Island  doctrine 
and  required  no  deliberation. 

"4th.  That  all  laws  and  expressions  in  laws 
derogatory  to  his  Majesty,  if  any  such  have  been 
made  in  these  late  and  troublesome  times,  may 
be  repealed,  altered  and  taken  off  the  files.'* 

This,  also,  was  accepted,  and  a  revision  of  the 
laws  ordered  for  that  purpose. 

".'tli.  That  the  Colony  be  put  in  such  a  pos- 
ture of  defence  that  if  there  should  be  any  inva- 
sion upon  this  island,  or  elsewhere  in  this  Colony 
(which  God  forbid)  you  might  in  some  measure 


HISTORY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  61 

be  in  readiness  to  defend  yourselves,  or  if  need 
be  to  relieve  your  neighbors,  according  to  the 
power  given  you  by  the  King  in  your  charter  and 
to  us  in  the  King's  commission  and  instructions." 

This,  also,  struck  a  familiar  cord.  Provisions 
for  self-defence  had  already  been  made  as  circum- 
stances called  for  them.  A  new  militia  law  was 
now  passed,  requiring  six  trainings  a  year  under 
heavy  penalties,  and  allowing  nine  shillings  a 
year  for  each  enlisted  soldier.  Every  man  was  to 
keep  on  hand  two  pounds  of  powder  and  four  of 
lead,  and  each  town  was  required  to  maintain  a 
public  magazine.  To  defray  the  expenses  of  these 
magazines  Newport  was  taxed  fifty  pounds,  and 
the  other  three  towns  twenty  pounds  each. 

The  Royal  Commissioners  were  well  satisfied 
with  the  conduct  of  Rhode  Island,  and  Rhode 
Island,  surrounded  by  powerful  enemies,  had 
every  reason  to  be  well  satisfied  with  the  Com- 
missioners. Still  the  encroachments  and  aggres- 
sions of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  con- 
tinued. As  a  prospective  means  of  defence 
against  them  John  Clarke  was  again  asked  to 
carry  the  complaints  of  the  suffering  Colony  to 
England,  and  John  Greene  was  chosen  to  accom- 
pany him.  In  1672  a  new  claimant  appeared  in 
the  lists. 

The  Council  of  Plymouth  had  been  lavish  of 
its  gifts  of  land,  and  in  its  ignorance  of  Ameri- 
can geography  had  formed  a  perplexing  map  of 
conflicting  claims.  In  one  of  its  grants  it  had 
given  the  greater  part  of  Maine,  together  with 


62  HISTORY    OF   KHODE   ISLAND. 

Nantucket,  Martha' s  Vineyard,  Long  Island  and 
the  adjacent  islands,  to  the  Earl  of  Stirling. 
The  Earl  of  Stirling  sold  his  grant  to  the  Duke 
of  York,  already  proprietor  by  royal  gift  of  the 
recently  conquered  province  of  New  Netherlands. 
The  term  adjacent  islands  would  have  included 
Acquidneck  and  the  other  islands  of  Narragan- 
sett  Bay.  Prudence,  one  of  the  pleasantest  and 
most  valuable  of  them,  had  been  bought  of  the 
Indian  proprietors  by  Roger  Williams  and  John 
Winthrop.  In  the  course  of  time  it  passed  by 
regular  sale  to  John  Paine,  a  Boston  merchant, 
who  had  won  the  favor  of  the  Duke  of  York  by 
contributing  liberally  to  the  rebuilding  of  Fort 
James,  in  New  York  harbor.  Governor  Lovelace, 
the  Duke's  attorney,  felt  that  such  liberality 
was  deserving  of  a  signal  reward.  Paine  was 
already  the  owner  of  Prudence.  Lovelace  re- 
solved to  make  it  a  free-manor  by  the  name  of 
Toply  manor,  and  confer  the  governorship  for 
life  on  Paine.  By  a  second  grant  the  original 
quit-rent  of  two  barrels  of  cider  and  six  pairs  of 
capons  was  remitted,  and  this  territory  of  seven 
miles  in  length  became  an  untaxed  and  independ- 
ent government. 

But  Rhode  Island  was  an  uncongenial  soil  for 
feudal  tenures.  Paine  was  arrested,  indicted  and 
convicted  under  the  law  of  1658  against  the  in- 
troduction of  a  foreign  jurisdiction,  and  Pru- 
dence without  any  formal  act  of  adjustment  re- 
turned to  its  original  position  as  a  part  of  Ports- 
mouth. 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  63 

Thus  the  Rhode  Island  Colony  grew  apace. 
From  time  to  time  questions  of  practical  govern- 
ment arose,  to  be  worked  out  and  solved  by  ex- 
perience. It  was  not  easy  to  make  citizens  feel 
their  duty  to  the  State.  More  than  once  the 
Assembly  failed  in  attendance,  to  the  serious 
detriment  of  the  public.  Fines  were  imposed, 
and  that  some  inducement  to  greater  regularity 
might  be  held  out,  a  small  pay  of  three  shillings 
a  day,  which  was  soon  reduced  to  two,  was 
attached  to  the  function  of  delegate.  To  facili- 
tate the  expression  of  opinion  voting  by  proxy 
was  permitted,  and  to  secure  the  election  of  the 
most  acceptable  candidate  it  was  enacted,  "  that 
whereas  there  may  happen  a  division  in  the  vote 
soe  that  the  greater  half  may  not  pitch  decidedly 
on  one  certaine  person,  yett  the  person  which  hath 
the  most  votes  shall  be  deemed  lawfully  chosen." 
The  laws  of  the  Colony  had  been  the  growth  of 
circumstances,  expressing  new  wants  and  repre- 
senting a  progressive  society.  Committees  were 
appointed  on  several  occasions  to  revise  and  har- 
monize them.  On  the  committee  of  October,  1664, 
we  find  Roger  Williams  and  John  Clarke. 

The  progress  of  society  has  established  a  funda- 
mental distinction  between  legislative,  executive 
and  judicial  powers,  which  was  not  known  to 
ancient  publicists.  The  Court  of  Trials  was  com- 
posed of  members  of  the  Assembly,  and  thus  the 
whole  body  of  law-makers  was  gradually  led  to 
exercise  judicial  authority. 


64  HISTORY    OF   KHODE   ISLAND. 

The  Colony  was  poor,  and  the  persecutions  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  compelled  it  to 
incur  expenses  greatly  beyond  its  means.  When 
Roger  Williams  went  on  his  second  mission  to 
England  he  sold  part  of  his  estates  in  order  to 
raise  the  money  for  his  expenses.  When  John 
Clarke  was  sent  to  negotiate  the  second  charter 
he  was  obliged  to  burthen  his  estate  with  a  mort- 
gage. The  whole  sum  due  him  by  the  Colony 
was  but  three  hundred  and  forty-three  pounds, 
and  yet  so  hard  was  it  to  collect  the  tax  by  which 
this  sum  was  to  be  paid  that  it  was  not  until 
twenty  years  after  his  death  that  the  mortgage 
was  lifted. 

Internal  dissensions  and  the  alarm  of  foreign 
war  troubled  the  Colony  in  1667.  Two  names 
long  prominent  in  Rhode  Island,  Harris  and 
Fenner,  appear  at  the  head  of  two  hostile  fac- 
tions in  Providence  and  continue  for  a  while  to 
disturb  the  public  peace.  England,  whose  wars 
now  found  a  reecho  in  the  colonies,  was  again  at 
war  with  France  and  Holland.  Efficient  meas- 
ures were  taken  to  put  the  Colony  in  a  state  of 
defence,  and  thus  new  burthens  were  imposed. 
A  council  of  war  was  organized  in  each  town. 
Ammunition  was  collected.  Officers  were  com- 
missioned. Cannon  were  mounted  at  Newport. 
Cavalry  corps  were  formed  in  the  towns.  The 
Governor  and  Council  met  in  frequent  delibera- 
tions. The  Indians  were  disarmed  and  sent  off 
the  Island.  A  line  of  beacons  was  established 


HISTORY   OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  65 

from  Wonumytomoni  Hill,  near  Newport,  to 
Mooshausick  Hill,  in  Providence.  Abundant 
proof  was  given  of  the  energy  and  good  states- 
manship of  the  Colony.  But  the  day  of  real  trial 
was  not  yet  come. 

The  question  of  taxation  w^as  an  early  cause  of 
difficulty.  The  poorer  towns  felt  themselves 
aggrieved,  and  often  put  insuperable  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  the  collector.  Even  the  tax  for  the 
payment  of  John  Clarke  was  disputed,  and  Roger 
Williams  drew  upon  himself  a  severe  condemna- 
tion from  Warwick  by  a  letter  wherein  he  urged 
its  payment.  At  last,  in  1672,  the  Assembly  took 
the  matter  seriously  in  hand  and  passed  a  bill 
declaring,  "that  whoever  opposed  by  word  or 
deed,  in  town  meeting  or  elsewhere,  any  rate  laid, 
or  any  other  of  the  acts  or  orders  of  the  General 
Assembly  should  be  bound  over  to  the  Court  of 
Trials,  or  imprisoned  till  it  meet,  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  justice,  for  high  contempt  and  sedition ; 
and  if  found  guilty,  should  be  fined,  imprisoned 
or  whipped,  as  the  court  might  adjudge." 

It  was  not  altogether  without  reason  that  this 
stringent  act  was  passed,  for  the  aggressions  of 
Connecticut  and  the  alarm  of  an  Indian  war 
made  it  necessary  to  strengthen  as  far  as  possi- 
ble the  hands  of  government.  But  there  was  a 
danger  in  this  legislative  omnipotence  which  the 
people  quickly  perceived,  and  the  new  Assembly 
of  May  undid  by  a  comprehensive  repeal  the 
work  of  its  predecessor  of  April. 

5 


CHAPTER    X. 

KING  PHILIP'S  WAR. 

I  HAVE  now  reached  the  story  of  the  longest 
and  bloodiest  war  which  the  colonists  had  yet- 
waged  with  the  Indian.  It  is  known  in  colonial 
history  as  King  Philip's  war,  and  belongs  more 
to  the  histories  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 
than  to  that  of  Rhode  Island,  although  two  of  its 
bloodiest  battles  were  fought  on  Rhode  Island  soil. 
Like  all  wars  with  barbarians  it  is  filled  with 
strange  mixtures  of  barbarism  and  heroism,  the 
savage  warrior  often  rising  in  the  pursuit  of  his 
ideal  to  a  moral  grandeur  which  his  civilized  an- 
tagonist failed  to  attain.  And  although  like  the 
war  with  the  .Pequots  it  was  fatal  to  thpse  who 
began  it,  it  has  left  one  of  great  names  of  Indian 
history,  and  brought  into  play  some  of  the  great- 
est traits  of  Indian  character. 

First  and  most  faithful  of  the  allies  of  the 
English  was  Massasoit,  Sachem  of  the  Wampo- 
noags.  A  pestilence  too  malignant  to  be  controlled 
by  the  medical  science  of  the  natives  had  deci- 
mated his  tribe  and  exposed  him  to  the  ambition 
of  the  Narragansetts,  his  immediate  neighbors,  a 
little  before  th  )  arrival  of  the  Pilgrims.  Perceiv- 
ing only  the  present  danger,  he  looked  upon  the 


HISTOEY   OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  67 

advent  of  the  white  man  as  a  means  of  preserving 
his  independence,  and  eagerly  made  a  covenant 
with  him  which  he  faithfully  kept  to  the  end  of 
his  life,  (1661).  At  his  death  his  eldest  son, 
Wamsutta,  or  Alexander  as  he  was  called  by 
the  English,  succeeded  to  his  authority,  but  not 
to  the  confidence  of  his  allies.  Suspicion  arose ; 
he  was  accused  of  plotting  against  the  colonists, 
and  though  an  independent  chief,  summoned  to 
appear  at  the  General  Court  at  Plymouth.  Dis- 
obeying the  summons,  he  was  threatened  with  per- 
sonal violence,  and  reluctantly  yielding  set  forth 
with  his  warriors  and  women,  some  eighty  in  all, 
under  the  escort  of  a  small  body  of  troops  com- 
manded by  Major  Winslow.  The  indignity  was 
too  great  for  the  unfortunate  chief.  Wiiislow  saw 
that  he  was  sinking  under  fatigue — for  the  weather 
was  very  hot — and  wounded  pride,  for  wrong 
was  hard  to  bear.  "Take  my  horse,"  he  said, 
touched  with  compassion.  "No!"  replied  the 
chief  with  a  last  touch  of  pride,  "there  are  no 
horses  for  my  wife  and  the  other  women." 
When  they  reached  Winslow' s  house,  which  was 
on  the  way  he  sickened,  and  though  allowed  to 
turn  back,  quickly  died.  Deep  was  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  Indians  at  this  treatment  of  their 
sachem,  and  even  some  of  the  colonists  felt  that 
they  had  gone  too  far. 

But  there  was  one  among  them  into  whose 
breast  the  wrong  sank  deepest,  for  it  called  him 
to  avenge  not  only  a  chief  but  a  brother.  That 


68  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

brother  was  known  in  colonial  history  as  Philip 
of  Pocanoket.  The  story  of  Philip  has  been 
variously  told,  some  looking  upon  him  as  a  crafty 
savage  loving  the  wiles  and  cruelty  of  Indian 
warfare  and  fighting  with  no  other  object  than 
immediate  success ;  others  as  an  Indian  patriot 
contending  for  the  independence  of  his  countiy. 
In  either  case,  if  we  judge  him  by  the  standard 
of  his  own  people,  he  was  a  great  ruler  in  peace 
and  a  valiant  leader  in  war. 

We  are  told  that  it  was  a  sore  grief  to  the 
young  sachem  to  see  the  white  man  daily  taking 
a  firmer  hold  of  the  soil,  and  the  red  man  melting 
before  him.  But  how  could  the  march  of  the  in- 
vader be  stayed  ?  The  arrow  was  a  feeble  weapon 
with  which  to  oppose  the  firelock,  the  tomahawk 
even  in  the  strongest  hand  was  no  match  for  the 
sabre.  The  foresight,  judgment,  method  and 
power  of  combination  of  the  white  man  enabled 
him  to  provide  for  the  future  while  making  wise 
provision  for  the  present.  While  he  was  well 
supplied  with  food,  the  Indian  was  starving. 
While  he  was  warmly  clad,  the  Indian  was  ex- 
posed almost  naked  to  the  rudest  blasts  of  winter. 
Philip  saw  the  danger  and  resolved  to  face  it. 

His  first  step  was  to  secure  allies  by  winning 
over  the  neighboring  tribes.  It  was  a  broad  field 
for  diplomacy,  wherein  Indian  not  Christian 
ethics  prevailed,  and  was  well  suited  to  his  bold 
and  wily  nature.  Yet  with  all  his  wiles  he  could 
not  so  completely  cover  his  track  as  not  to  excite 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  69 

the  suspicions  of  the  English.  He  was  sum- 
moned to  Plymouth  and  closely  questioned.  But 
the  hour  for  action  was  not  yet  come  and  he  suc- 
ceeded in  allaying  suspicions  by  giving  up  his 
arms. 

But  treason  beset  his  path.  A  "praying 
Indian,"  as  the  converts  of  Eliot  were  called, 
who  had  lived  some  years  with  Philip  as  secre- 
tary and  counselor,  betrayed  the  secret  of  the 
sachem's  preparations.  The  betrayal  cost  him 
his  life  but  saved  the  Colony  by  compelling 
Philip  to  begin  his  outbreak  before  his  prepara- 
tions were  completed.  It  is  said  that  when  he 
saw  the  necessity  he  cast  himself  upon  the  ground 
and  wept  bitterly. 

But  there  was  no  escaping  it,  and  collecting  his 
forces  he  fell  upon  the  settlements  with  fire  and 
sword,  and  what  was  still  more  dreaded,  the 
scalping  knife  and  tomahawk.  The  first  to  feel 
his  fury  was  the  border  town  of  Swanzey,  where 
houses  and  barns  were  burnt  and  nine  of  the 
inhabitants  put  to  death  and  seven  wounded. 
Succor  came  promptly  from  Plymouth  and  Bos- 
ton. The  Indians  fell  back  upon  Mount  Hope, 
Philip's  favorite  seat.  Mutilated  corpses  and 
burning  dwellings  marked  the  track  of  the  pur- 
sued. The  pursuer  looked  round  him  in  vain  for 
an  enemy.  A  few  dogs  prowled  round  the  de- 
serted wigwams,  but  not  an  Indian  was  to  be  seen. 

And  here  comes  into  view  one  of  the  boldest 
leaders  of  the  colonists  in  their  wars  with  the 


70  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

natives,  Benjamin  Church,  of  Plymouth,  a  man 
skilled  in  all  the  arts  of  Indian  warfare,  and  in 
whose  ardent  nature  a  sound  judgment  and  self- 
control  were  combined  with  intrepidity  and  enter- 
prise. He  pressed  close  upon  the  track  of  the 
enemy,  crossed  the  bay  to  Aquidneck.  and  after 
a  six  hours'  fight  with  a  superior  force  was  com- 
pelled to  take  refuge  on  board  a  sloop  just  as  his 
ammunition  began  to  fail. 

The  war  was  fairly  begun,  and  for  over  a  twelve- 
month raged  with  various  fortunes  but  unabated 
fury.  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  suffered  most, 
but  it  left  bloody  traces  in  Rhode  Island  also. 

For  unfortunately  for  Rhode  Island,  Philip's 
favorite  seat  was  that  beautiful  range  of  hills, 
some  twelve  miles  long,  which  separates  the 
Taunton  River  and  Mount  Hope  Bay  from  Xarra- 
gansett  Bay,  thus  bringing  him  within  the  limits 
of  the  present  Town  of  Bristol.  Tradition  still 
points  to  a  rock  on  the  southernmost  hill  where 
the  "noble  savage''  loved  to  sit  and  gaze  on  the 
waters  as  they  held  their  way  to  the  Atlantic, 
revolving,  perhaps,  in  his  embittered  mind,  a 
bloody  vengeance  upon  his  arrogant  foe.  It  was 
from  Mount  Hope  that  he  set  forth  to  strike  his 
first  blow,  and  thither  that  he  returned  to  fall  by 
the  hand  of  a  traitor.  ''But  a  small  part  of  the 
domain  of  my  ancestors  is  left."  he  said  to  his 
friend,  John  Borden.  "lam  determined  not  to 
live  till  I  have  no  country." 

Part  only  of    the    bloody  record   as   I  have 


HISTORY    OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  71 

already  said  belongs  to  Rhode  Island.  In  the 
modern  Town  of  Tiverton,  known  in  those  earlier 
colonial  days  as  Pocasset,  there  was  a  swamp — 
seven  miles  in  length — one  of  those  difficult  spots 
wherein  Indian  warriors  love  to  concentrate  their 
forces  in  the  hour  of  danger.  Here,  amidst  intri- 
cate paths  and  trembling  morasses  Philip  first 
awaited  the  assault  of  the  enemy.  The  colonists 
came  up  bravely  to  the  charge,  but  were  bravely 
repulsed  with  the  loss  of  sixteen  men.  Then 
they  resolved  to  take  possession  of  the  avenues 
to  the  swamp  and  starve  the  Indians  into  surren- 
der. But  the  wily  Philip  after  standing  a  siege  of 
thirteen  days  made  good  his  escape  by  night  and 
took  refuge  on  the  Connecticut  River,  where  he 
was  joined  by  the  Nipmucks,  a  Massachusetts 
tribe  which  he  had  won  over  to  his  fortunes. 
Surprises,  pursuits,  gallant  stands,  fearful  mas- 
sacres follow.  At  Brookfield  it  is  an  ambush 
followed  by  a  siege.  At  Deerfield  there  was  a 
battle  in  which  the  Indians  were  worsted,  then 
a  second  trial  of  strength  in  which  the  town  was 
burnt.  At  Hadley  the  enemy  came  while  the 
inhabitants  were  in  the  meeting-house  engaged 
in  their  devotions.  For  a  while  the  men,  who 
had  brought  their  arms  with  them  and  were  well 
trained  to  the  use  of  them,  thus  held  their  ground 
firmly.  But  the  surprise  had  shaken  their  nerves, 
and  they  were  beginning  to  cast  anxious  glances 
around  them,  when  suddenly  in  their  midst  ap- 
peared a  venerable  man  clad  in  the  habiliments 


72  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

of  another  age  and  with  a  sword  in  his  hand. 
With  a  clear,  firm  voice  he  roused  the  flagging 
courage  of  the  villagers,  reformed  their  ranks  and 
led  them  to  the  charge.  A  Roman  would  have 
taken  him  for  one  of  the  Dioscuri — a  Spaniard 
for  St.  Jago.  What  wonder  that  the  Hadleyites 
thought  him  a  divine  messenger,  and  if  with  such 
a  proof  of  God' s  favor  to  inspirit  them,  they  sprang 
forward  with  dauntless  hearts  and  drove  their 
enemy  before  them.  When  the  victory  was  won. 
the  same  clear  voice  bade  them  bow  their  heads 
in  prayer,  and  when  they  raised  them  again  the 
mysterious  speaker  was  gone.  Xone  but  the  vil- 
lage preacher  knew  that  it  was  Goffe.  the  regicide. 
A  surprise  and  massacre  have  left  their  name  to 
Bloody  Brook.  Springfield  was  burned.  But  at 
Hatfield  Philip  received  a  check,  and  having  laid 
waste  the  western  frontier  of  Massachusetts. 
turned  his  steps  toward  the  land  of  the  Xana- 
gansetts.  For  the  success  of  the  war  depended 
mainly  upon  the  decision  of  that  still  powerful 
tribe.  In  the  beginning  a  doubtful  treaty  had 
been  patched  up  between  them  and  the  English. 
But  their  hearts  weiv  with  their  own  race,  and 
when  Philip  came  they  resolved  to  cast  in  their 
fortunes  with  his.  The  colonists  prepared  th^m- 
selves  sternly  for  the  contest.  Fifteen  hundred 
men  were  enlisted  in  Massachusetts.  Plymouth 
and  Connecticut :  a  body  of  friendly  Indians 
joined  them,  and  though  it  was  mid-winter,  think- 
ing only  of  the  necessity  of  striking  a  decisive 


HISTORY    OF   1UIODE   ISLATSTD.  73 

blow  they  began  their  march.  Volunteers  from 
Rhode  Island  joined  them  on  the  "way,  but  Rhode 
Island  as  a  colony  was  not  consulted. 

The  Narragansetts  were  on  their  own  ground 
and  had  chosen  the  strongest  point  for  their  win- 
ter quarters.  It  was  an  island  of  between  three 
and  four  acres  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  swamp  in 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  State,  three  or  four 
miles  from  the  present  village  of  Kingston.  To 
the  trees  and  other  natural  defences  the  Indian 
chief  had  added  palisades  and  such  appliances 
as  his  rude  engineering  suggested.  Here  he  had 
built  his  wigwams  and  stored  his  provisions,  and 
prepared  to  pass  the  winter. 

Towards  this  fated  spot  at  the  dawn  of  a  De- 
cember Sabbath  the  little  army  of  Puritans  took 
their  way.  The  snow  was  falling  fast  and  the 
wind  dashed  it  in  their  faces,  but  bated  not 
their  speed.  By  one  they  were  in  front  of  the 
stronghold,  and  though  weary  with  the  long 
march  and  faint  with  hunger  they  pressed  eagerly 
forward.  The  only  entrance  was  over  the  trunk 
of  a  tree.  The  Indian  guns  and  arrows  covered 
every  foot  of  the  way.  The  colonists  undaunted 
rushed  on — officers  in  the  van.  First  to  feel  the 
murderous  Indian  aim  was  Captain  Johnson,  of 
Roxbury.  Captain  Davenport,  of  Boston,  fell 
next,  but  before  he  fell  penetrated  the  enclosure. 
More  than  two  hours  the  battle  raged  with  una- 
bated fury.  At  one  time  the  English  made  their 
way  into  the  fort,  but  the  Indians  rallied  and 


74  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

forced  them  back  again.  But  over-confident  in 
the  natural  strength  of  their  fortress  they  had  neg- 
lected to  secure  with  palisades  a  strip  which  they 
had  thought  sufficiently  guarded  by  a  sheet  of 
water.  The  English  discovered  it,  and  crossing 
took  the  astonished  natives  in  the  rear.  At  the 
same  time, some  one  shouted,  "Fire  their  wig- 
wams." The  fatal  flame  caught  eagerly  the  light 
boughs  and  branches  of  which  the  frail  tenements 
were  made,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  fort  was  all 
ablaze.  Imagination  shrinks  appalled  from  the 
scene  that  followed,  ^ight  was  coming  on.  The 
snow  storm  had  set  in  with  fresh  violence.  A 
thousand  Indian  warriors  lay  dead  or  wounded 
within  the  fort.  Five  hundred  wigwams  were 
burning  within  the  same  narrow  compass — con- 
suming alike  the  bodies  of  the  wounded  and  the 
dead.  The  women  and  children,  like  their  pro- 
tectors, perished  in  the  flames.  Eighty  of  the 
English,  too,  were  killed — a  hundred  and  fifty 
were  wounded.  Had  the  wigwams  been  spared 
there  would  have  been  food  and  shelter  for  the 
victors.  But  victors  and  vanquisher  were  driven 
out  into  the  bleak  night,  weary  and  spent  with 
long  marching  and  fasting — the  Indian  to  crouch 
in  an  open  cedar  swamp  not  far  from  the  fort— 
the  English  to  return  to  the  spot  from  whence 
they  had  set  out  in  the  morning  for  this  dreadful 
victory — Smith's  plantation,  near  the  present  vil- 
lage of  \Vickford.  Several  of  the  wounded  died 
by  the  way. 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE    ISLAND.  75 

Even  after  this  blow  Philip  succeeded  in  arous- 
ing the  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  tribes  to  his 
support,  and  the  war  still  raged  for  a  while 
through  the  New  England  settlements.  Rhode 
Island  suffered  severely.  Warwick  was  burned, 
and  the  cattle  driven  off.  Tradition  says  that 
when  the  enemy  approached  Providence,  Roger 
Williams,  now  a  very  old  man,  went  out  to  meet 
them.  "Massachusetts,"  he  said,  "can  raise 
thousands  of  men  at  this  moment,  and  if  you  kill 
them,  the  King  of  England  will  supply  their 
places  as  fast  as  they  fall."  "Let  them  come," 
was  the  reply,  "we  are  ready  for  them.  But  as 
for  you,  brother  Williams,  you  are  a  good  man  ; 
you  have  been  kind  to  us  many  years ;  not  a  hair 
of  your  head  shall  be  touched."  Fifty-four 
houses  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town  were 
burned,  but  the  fearless  old  man  was  not  harmed. 

Many  of  the  colonists  took  refuge  on  Aquid- 
neck,  where  the  inhabitants  of  Newport  and 
Portsmouth  received  them  with  great  kindness. 
To  protect  the  island  a  little  flotilla  of  four  boats, 
manned  each  by  five  or  six  men,  was  kept  sailing 
around  it  day  and  night.  There  was  no  rest  for 
old  or  young.  April  opened  a  brighter  prospect. 
Canonchet,  chief  of  the  ISTarragansetts  was  taken 
prisoner.  A  young  Englishman  attempted  to 
examine  him.  ' '  You  much  child  ;  no  understand 
matters  of  war.  Let  your  brother  or  your  chief 
come.  Him  I  will  answer,"  was  his  haughty 
reply.  He  was  offered  his  life  if  his  tribe  would 


76  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

submit,  but  refused  it.  The  offer  was  renewed 
and  he  calmly  said,  "Let  me  hear  no  more  about 
it."  He  was  sent  to  Stonington,  where  a  council 
of  war  condemned  him  to  death.  ;'I  like  it 
well,"  said  he;  "I  shall  die  before  my  heart  is 
soft,  or  I  have  said  anything  unworthy  of  myself." 
That  as  many  as  possible  of  his  own  race  should 
take  part  in  his  execution  Pequots  were  em- 
ployed to  shoot  him,  Mohegans  to  cut  off  his 
head  and  quarter  him.  and  the  Xiantics  to  burn 
his  body.  When  all  this  had  been  done,  his  head 
was  sent  to  the  Commissioners  at  Hartford  as  "a 
taken  of  love  and  loyalty." 

Throughout  the  spring  and  early  summer  the 
war  still  raged  with  unabated  violence.  The 
Rhode  Island  Assembly  was  so  hard  pushed  that 
it  was  compelled  to  repeal  the  law  exempting 
Quakers  vfrom  military  service.  A  few  days  be- 
fore the  capture  of  Canonchet  he  had  surprised  a 
party  of  Plymouth  men  near  Pawtuxet.  A  bat- 
tle was  fought  in  an  open  cedar  swamp  in  War- 
wick. But  at  last  fortune  seemed  to  turn  towards 
the  English.  Philip's  allies  began  to  fall  from 
him.  His  wife  and  children  weiv  taken  prisoners. 
Captain  Church  with  a  chosen  band  was  on  his 
trail.  Hunted  from  lair  to  lair  he  sought  refuge 
at  Mount  Hope.  A  few  followers  still  clung  to 
his  fortunes.  His  mind  was  harassed  by  unpro- 
pitious  dreams,  and  in  his  weariness  his  pursuers 
came  upon  him  unawares.  As  he  rose  to  flee  he 
was  shot  down  by  a  renegade  Indian.  The  vie- 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  77 

tors  drew  his  body  out  of  the  swamp,  cut  off  his 
head,  and  dividing  the  trunk  and  limbs  into  four 
parts  hung  them  upon  four  trees.  The  head  was 
sent  to  Plymouth  where  it  was  hung  upon  a  gib- 
bet. One  hand  was  sent  to  Boston  where  it  was 
welcomed  as  a  trophy,  and  the  other  was  given 
to  the  renegade  who  shot  him,  by  whom  it  was 
exhibited  for  money.  His  son  was  sold  into 
West  India  servitude. 

With  the  death  of  Philip  the  war  ended,  al- 
though there  were  occasional  collisions  and  blood- 
shed. For  two  members  of  the  New  England  con- 
federacy it  had  been  a  war  of  desolation.  Con- 
necticut, the  third,  escaped  unharmed.  Rhode 
Island,  which  had  never  been  a  member  of  it 
and  had  never  been  consulted  concerning  the  war, 
although  some  of  its  leading  incidents  occurred 
within  her  borders,  suffered  most.  Her  second 
town  was  burned,  her  plantations  laid  waste  and 
the  inhabitants  of  her  main-land  driven  for 
shelter  to  the  island. 

With  the  vanquished  it  went  hard.  Many 
were  killed  in  battle,  some  were  shot  in  cold 
blood  by  the  sentence  of  an  English  court-martial. 
Many  were  sold  into  slavery — with  this  distinc- 
tion in  favor  of  Rhode  Island,  that  while  the 
other  colonies  sold  their  prisoners  into  unquali- 
fied servitude,  she  established  for  hers  a  system 
of  apprenticeship  by  which  the  prospect  of  ulti- 
mate freedom  was  opened  to  all. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

INDIANS  STILL  TROUBLESOME.— CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. — 
TROUBLES   CONCERNING  THE  BOUNDARY   LINES. 

WAR  was  followed  by  pestilence,  which  moves 
so  fatally  in  her  train.  Of  this  pestilence  we 
only  know  that  it  ran  its  deadly  course  in  two  or 
three  days,  and  left  its  traces  in  almost  every 
family.  Meanwhile  the  legislature  was  sedu- 
lously repairing  the  breaches  of  the  war.  Laws 
passed  in  order  to  meet  an  urgent  want  were 
repealed,  and  chief  among  them  as  most  repug- 
nant to  the  tolerant  spirit  of  the  Colony  the  law 
of  military  service.  The  farmers  returned  to 
their  desolate  fields — citizens  to  the  ruins  of  their 
hamlets.  "Give  us  peace,"  they  may  have  said, 
'•'  and  we  will  efface  the  traces  of  these  ruins." 

But  it  was  long  before  real  peace  returned.  The 
Indians  though  subdued  were  still  turbulent. 
Active  measures  were  required  to  prevent  them 
from  passing  on  and  off  the  Island  at  will,  and 
building  their  wigwams  and  mat-sheds  on  the 
commons  and  even  on  private  lands.  Rumsellers 
were  found  ready  to  sell  them  rum,  and  at 
Providence  parties  were  sent  out  to  scour  the 
woods  and  guard  against  surprises.  As  an  en- 
couragement to  the  men  engaged  in  these  duties 
their  wounded  were  nursed  at  public  expense. 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  79 

There  was  more  serious  danger  from  another 
quarter.  Connecticut  had  not  renounced  her 
designs  against  Rhode  Island  territory,  nor  was 
she  slow  in  declaring  her  intentions.  The  first 
step  was  an  order  of  the  Council  at  Hartford  for- 
bidding every  one,  whether  white  man  or  Indian, 
to  occupy  any  lands  in  Narragansett  without  its 
consent.  The  Assembly  met  this  order  by  a 
counter  prohibition.  No  jurisdiction  was  to  be 
exercised  there  but  that  of  Rhode  Island. 

This  declaration  of  claims  was  promptly  fol- 
lowed by  action.  Three  planters  who  had  re- 
turned to  their  plantations  in  Warwick  were 
siezed  by  the  Connecticut  authorities  and  sent  to 
Hartford.  They  appealed  to  their  own  Governor, 
Governor  Clarke  for  protection.  One  of  the  most 
important  measures  of  the  Rhode  Island  govern- 
ment was  the  reestablishment  of  King' s  Province. 
Full  power  of  protection  was  conferred  upon  a 
court  of  justices  to  be  held  in  Narragansett.  No 
one  was  allowed  to  enter  the  Province  without 
permission  from  the  Assembly.  Ten  thousand 
acres  of  land  were  set  apart  for  new  settlers  at 
the  rate  of  a  hundred  acres  to  each  man — the 
new  settlers  to  be  approved  by  the  Assembly. 
Rhode  Island  threatened  to  appeal  to  the  King. 
Connecticut  declared  that  she  was  ready  to  meet 
the  appeal.  Attempts  at  compromise  were  made 
by  both  parties.  Connecticut  proposed  to  fix  the 
line  at  Coweset,  the  modern  East  Greenwich. 
Rhode  Island  offered  to  allow  Connecticut  to  dis- 


80  HISTORY    OF   KIIODE   ISLAND. 

pose  of  half  the  unpurchased  lands  in  the  Prov- 
ince if  the  settlers  would  accept  the  jurisdiction 
of  Rhode  Island.  The  loss  of  King's  Province 
would  have  imperilled  the  future  independence 
of  Rhode  Island,  and  therewith  the  great  princi- 
ple on  which  it  was  founded.  Connecticut  could 
not  renounce  her  last  hope  of  securing  a  part  of 
Narragansett  Bay.  Neither  offer  was  accepted, 
and  it  soon  became  evident  that  no  decision  could 
be  reached  except  by  appeal  to  the  King.  Peleg 
Sandford  and  Richard  Bailey  were  chosen  agents, 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  voted  for  their 
expenses.  The  money  was  to  be  raised  by  the 
sale  of  ten  thousand  acres  of  lands  in  Narragan- 
sett  at  the  rate  of  a  shilling  an  acre. 

Meanwhile  the  Assembly  was  very  active.  A 
party  change  took  place  at  the  election  of  1677— 
Governor  Arnold  was  chosen  in  place  of  Gover- 
nor Clarke.  This  was  equivalent  to  a  triumph  of 
the  war  party.  The  militia  law  was  again  re- 
vised, care  still  being  taken  to  protect  the  rights 
of  conscience.  How  jealously  these  were  guarded 
appears  also  in  the  unwillingness  to  multiply 
oaths  of  office.  Five  years  before  an  act  had 
been  passed  requiring  deputies  to  take  an  engage- 
ment on  entering  upon  the  duties  of  their  office. 
This  law  met  with  great  opposition  at  its  original 
passage,  and  its  repeal  was  hailed  with  general 
satisfaction.  Every  freeman,  it  was  said,  made 
an  engagement  of  allegiance  on  receiving  the 
rights  of  citizenship.  An  oath  is  too  solemn  a 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  81 

thing  to  be  lightly  taken — why  should  we  use  it? 
So  reasoned  those  concientious  men.  By  an- 
other act,  also,  they  showed  how  fast  they  held 
to  this  fundamental  principle. 

Another  sect,  the  Sabbatarians  or  Seventh-Day 
Baptists,  had  taken  root  and  begun  to  flourish  in 
the  free  air  of  Rhode  Island.  In  1667  they  were 
sufficiently  numerous  to  justify  them  in  asking 
that  market  day  might  be  changed  from  Satur- 
day, their  Sabbath,  to  some  other  day.  With- 
out breaking  in  upon  an  old  custom  by  changing 
the  day,  the  Assembly  added  Thursday  as  an- 
other market  day  and  thus  quieted  the  scruples 
of  honest  and  useful  citizens. 

We  have  seen  how  promptly  and  firmly  the 
Assembly  met  the  encroachments  of  Connecticut. 
Their  remonstrances  were  followed  up  by  spir- 
ited and  judicious  action.  The  surest  way  to 
strengthen  their  hold  upon  the  disputed  terri- 
tory was  by  peopling  it.  Among  the  coves  and 
inlets  which  give  such  quiet  beauty  to  Narragan- 
sett  Bay  there  is  none  more  beautiful  than  that 
broad  sheet  of  navigable  water  which  still  retains 
in  part  its  original  name  of  Coweset.  Here  it 
was  resolved  to  plant  a  colony  and  build  a  town. 
Five  hundred  acres  were  set  apart  in  lots  on  the 
bay  for  house  lots — four  thousand  five  hundred 
in  farms  of  ninety  acres,  which  were  distributed 
among  fifty  men  on  condition  of  building  within 
a  year  and  opening  roads  from  the  bay  into  the 
country.  To  guard  against  rash  speculation  no 

colonist  was  to  sell  his  land  within  twenty-one 
6 


82  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

years  unless  with  the  consent  of  the  Assembly. 
Thus  on  the  verdant  hill-side  at  whose  foot  a  rip- 
ple from  the  Atlantic  mingles  with  the  inland 
murmur  of  Mascachugh  was  built  the  pleasant 
hamlet  of  East  Greenwich. 

Another  bitter  controversy  arose  concerning 
the  limits  and  extent  of  the  original  Providence 
and  Pawtuxet  purchase  —  a  question  of  great 
local  interest,  and  which  lost  none  of  its  heat 
from  having  for  opposite  leaders  Roger  Williams 
and  William  Harris.  Several  difficult  questions 
were  mixed  up  with  it,  greatly  disturbing  the 
harmony  of  the  northern  section  of  the  Colony. 
Williams  had  shown  himself  to  be  an  inaccurate 
conveyancer  in  the  drafting  of  the  original  deed. 
This  was  purely  a  question  of  title.  A  still  more 
difficult  one  arose  when  Warwick  was  colonized. 
Agents  were  sent  to  England  to  ask  for  the 
appointment  of  commissioners  to  decide  the  con- 
troversies which  the  local  tribunals  were  unable 
to  decide  effectually.  John  Greene  and  Randall 
Holden  were  the  agents  for  Warwick ;  William 
Harris  for  Pawtuxet.  This  William  Harris,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  was  a  bold  thinker  and  an 
energetic  actor.  He  made  several  voyages  to 
England  in  defence  of  his  party,  and  followed  up 
with  great  energy  every  advantage  that  he  gained 
before  the  tribunals  at  home.  On  his  last  voyage 
he  fell  into  the  hands  of  Barbary  corsairs,  and 
though  ransomed  after  a  year  of  captivity  died 
soon  after  his  redemption.  The  controversy  did 
not  cease  with  his  death.  Other  voyages  were 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  83 

made  to  England  and  other  decisions  obtained. 
But  it  was  not  till  many  years  later  that  the  un- 
wise contest  was  settled.  Then,  in  1696,  the  line 
between  Providence  and  Warwick  was  settled 
by  the  Assembly,  with  the  Pawtuxet  River  for 
boundary.  That  between  Providence  and  Paw- 
tuxet was  continued  till  1712  and  then  settled  by 
compromise. 


CHAPTEE    XII. 

DEATH     OF     SEVERAL     OP     THE     MOST     PROMINENT     MEN. — 
CHANGES  IN  LEGISLATION. 

THE  woes  of  Rhode  Island  begin  anew.  Scarcely 
had  the  war  ceased  when  Connecticut  as  we  have 
already  seen  renewed  her  claim  to  Narragansett. 
Massachusetts  soon  followed  in  the  name  of  the 
Atherton  company.  And  presently  Plymouth 
joined  herself  to  the  roll  of  Rhode  Island's  ene- 
mies by  advancing  a  claim  to  Aquidneck  itself. 
Connecticut  sought  to  strengthen  her  pretensions 
by  asserting  that  the  disputed  territory  was  now 
hers  by  right  of  conquest.  Thus  far  the  sturdy 
little  colony  had  held  its  ground  and  grown  and 
prospered  in  the  midst  of  enemies.  Would  she 
continue  to  hold  it?  Humanity  itself  was  con- 
cerned in  the  answer,  for  of  all  the  powers  and 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  she  alone  was  founded 
upon  the  principle  of  perfect  toleration.  The 
contest  was  a  long  and  a  weary  one,  too  long  for 
the  purpose  of  this  volume,  for  it  is  a  history 
of  seventy  years  of  discussion  and  aggression,  of 
bitter  attack  and  firm  resistance,  terminating  at 
last  in  the  triumph  of  the  weak  and  single-handed. 
Rhode  Island  not  only  preserved  her  original  ter- 
ritory but  added  to  it  from  that  of  two  of  her 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  85 

enemies.  I  shall  select  a  few  incidents  to  illus- 
trate the  progress  of  the  contest. 

It  was  to  be  waged  for  the  most  part  by  a  new 
generation.  The  great  men  of  the  foundation 
were  passing  away.  John  Clarke,  who  had 
thrown  the  mild  lustre  of  his  purity  over  the  first 
half  of  the  life  of  the  Colony,  died  in  1676,  leav- 
ing a  deep  longing,  or  rather  a  sore  need  of  his 
civil  virtues  and  diplomatic  skill.  Samuel  Gor- 
ton, whose  tenacious  convictions  made  him  stern 
and  intolerant  in  public  life  though  gentle  and 
attractive  in  private  intercourse,  and  whose  vigor- 
ous and  subtle  intellect  led  him  to  rejoice  in  the 
bitterness  of  controversy  as  the  swift  horse  re- 
joices in  the  dust  of  the  race-course,  died  the  year 
after.  Roger  Williams  was  spared  a  few  years 
longer — bold,  ardent,  disputatious,  resolute,  sin- 
cere and  earnest  to  the  last.  But  the  young  of 
his  middle  age  were  growing  old,  and  the  com- 
panions of  his  active  years  were  falling  around 
him.  His  colony  had  thriven  and  flourished. 
The  five  men  who  followed  him  from  Salem  had 
become  "a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  men  able 
to  bear  arms."  In  spite  of  the  threatening  of  the 
political  horizon  his  strong  faith  told  him  that 
the  being  in  whom  he  had  put  his  trust  thus  far 
would  stand  by  him  still.  And  thus  he  laid 
his  head  upon  his  last  pillow,  a  satisfied  and 
happy  man. 

Another  man  of  bold,  original  type — William 
Harris — had  run  his  active  career,  and  died  with 


86  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

his  hands  and  heart  still  full  of  unfinished  work. 
We  have  seen  to  what  length  he  carried  his 
doctrine  of  individual  right  to  free  action.  We 
have  seen  him  wage  a  bitter  controversy  with 
Roger  Williams.  Time  after  time  he  crossed  the 
Atlantic  as  agent  of  the  great  boundary  ([iiestions 
which  fill  so  large  a  space  in  the  Rhode  Island 
history  of  this  period;  the  last  time,  and  from 
which  he  was  never  to  return,  as  agent  for  Con- 
necticut. A  deep  presentiment  of  disaster  seems 
to  have  filled  his  mind  as  he  was  preparing  him- 
self for  this  voyage,  and  not  satisfied  with  mak- 
ing his  will  he  presented  it  for  probate  with  his  own 
hands.  The  presentiment  was  well  founded.  On 
the  outward  passage  he  was  taken  by  a  Barbary 
corsair  and  sold  into  slavery.  By  the  exertion  of 
friends  he  was  ransomed  after  a  year's  captivity 
and  made  his  way  through  Spain  and  France  to 
England.  But  the  year  of  slavery  had  told  hard 
upon  him,  and  three  days  after  his  arrival  he 
died.  It  has  been  remarked  by  a  profound 
thinker  that  while  Williams' s  more  comprehen- 
sive mind  could  embrace  both  the  practical  and 
ideal  in  their  mutual  relations,  the  moment  that 
Harris  touched  the  ideal  he  became  a  radical.  It 
does  not  seem  to  have  struck  his  cotemporaries 
as  it  does  us  to  see  him  accepting  the  agency  of 
Connecticut  in  her  controversy  with  Rhode  Island. 
But  he  has  a  definite  place  in  Rhode  Island  his- 
tory and  did  her  good  service  through  his  long 
and  somewhat  turbulent  career. 


HISTORY   OF    RHODE  ISLAND.  87 

William  Codding  ton,  who  had  been  an  eminent 
man  in  Massachusetts  before  he  became  a  very 
eminent  man  in  Rhode  Island,  lived  to  take  an 
active  part  in  the  controversy,  and  died  in  1678, 
while  holding  for  the  time  the  office  of  Governor. 
His  temporary  usurpation  had  been  forgiven  and 
forgotten,  and  men  remembered  only  that  he  had 
sincerely  renounced  his  hostile  designs  and  be- 
come a  loyal  and  useful  citizen. 

Such  were  some  of  the  men  who  bore  the  largest 
part  in  moulding  the  original  character  of  Rhode 
Island.  Talent  and  character  like  theirs  was  re- 
quired to  guide  the  little  Colony  through  the 
dangers  that  surrounded  it.  But  before  we 
return  to  the  external  history  of  these  days  we 
will  gather  from  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  a  few 
records  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  life  of  the 
Colony  and  its  progress  to  a  higher  civilization. 

The  publicity  of  the  laws  is  a  question  of  deep 
interest  in  every  stage  of  society,  but  particularly 
interesting  in  small  communities.  In  the  early 
days  of  Rhode  Island  they  were  published  by 
beat  of  drum  under  the  seal  of  the  Colony.  The 
violation  of  a  law  found  no  excuse  in  the  plea  of 
ignorance. 

The  sessions  of  the  Assembly  were  held  in  a 
tavern  or  sometimes  in  a  private  house,  always 
beginning,  as  the  Roman  assemblies  did,  at  a 
very  early  hour.  We  have  already  seen  that 
early  attempts  were  made  to  allure  the  members 
to  their  duty  by  payment.  It  was  still  some  time 


88  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

before  this  became  a  fixed  law.  In  1679  a  resolu- 
tion was  passed  for  paying  the  board  and  lodg- 
ing of  the  members  of  the  Assembly  and  of  the 
Court  of  Trials.  In  the  May  session  of  1680  a 
definite  sum  was  fixed  upon — seven  shillings  a 
week.  The  true  nature  of  the  reciprocal  obliga- 
tion of  the  citizen  and  the  State  was  not  yet  fully 
understood. 

The  frequent  appeals  to  England  which  the 
aggressions  of  the  other  New  England  colonies 
made  necessary,  made  it  also  necessary  to  keep 
resident  agents  at  the  English  court.  Thus  the 
increased  expenditure  of  the  Colony  kept  pace 
with  the  increase  of  her  resources. 

In  1678  a  tax  was  laid  which  enables  us  to  form 
a  tolerably  accurate  idea  of  the  financial  condition 
of  the  Colony.  Its  full  amount  was  three  hun- 
dred pounds.  "Of  this  sum  Newport  was  as- 
sessed one  hundred  and  thirty-six  pounds,  Ports- 
mouth sixty-eight.  New  Shoreham  and  James- 
town twenty-nine  each,  Providence  ten,  Warwick 
eight,  Kingston  sixteen,  afterwards  reduced  to 
eight,  East  Greenwich  and  Westerly  two  each." 
As  the  greater  part  of  this  tax  was  commntable, 
we  are  enabled  to  form  a  pretty  accurate  idea  of 
the  price  of  living  just  after  the  war.  "Fresh 
pork  was  valued  at  twopence  a  pound,  salted 
and  well  packed  pork  at  fifty  shillings  a  barrel, 
fresh  beef  at  twelve  shillings  a  hundred  weight, 
packed  beef  in  barrels  thirty  shillings  a  hundred, 
peas  and  barley  malt  two  and  sixpence  a  bushel, 


HISTORY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  89 

corn  and  barley,  two  shillings,  washed  wool  six- 
pence a  pound,  and  good  firkin  butter  fivepence. 
The  quarter  part  of  this  tax  was  paid  in  wool  at 
the  rate  of  fivepence  a  pound."  If  we  compare 
these  prices  with  those  of  1670,  we  shall  see  that 
war  had  proved  here  as  everywhere  a  great 
scourge. 

In  the  law  by  which  this  tax  was  levied  we 
find  a  practical  illustration  of  the  principle  which 
less  than  a  century  later  became  the  fundamental 
principle  of  colonial  resistance  to  the  mother 
country.  None  but  a  complete  representation  of 
all  the  towns  could  levy  a  tax,  or  as  it  was 
formulated  by  James  Otis — taxation  without  rep- 
resentation is  tyranny. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  observation  that  there  was 
a  tendency  to  extend  the  usage  of  election  to 
direct  choice  by  vote  of  the  freemen.  The  office 
of  major  which  at  its  first  institution  during 
Philip's  war  was  filled  by  vote  of  the  militia, 
passed,  in  1678,  to  the  whole  body  of  freemen. 
The  necessity  of  a  distinction  between  martial 
and  civil  law  seems,  also,  to  have  made  itself 
more  sensibly  felt  at  the  same  period,  and  a  per- 
manent court-martial  was  formed  for  the  trial  of 
delinquent  soldiers.  As  the  commercial  spirit  of 
the  Colony  increased  the  necessity  of  a  bankrupt 
law  was  felt,  but  on  trial  it  was  found  to  be  pre- 
mature and  repealed.  An  attempt  was  also 
made  to  avoid  the  conflict  of  land  titles  in  Nar- 
ragansett,  where  the  interest  of  townships  as  well 


90  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

as  of  private  individuals  was  involved.  To  correct 
this  evil  which  struck  at  the  root  of  social  organi- 
zation the  Assembly  ordered  that  the  disputed 
tracts  should  be  surveyed  and  plats  made  of 
them.  For  the  more  efficacious  protection  of 
this  fundamental  interest  it  was  ordered  that  all 
who  held  by  Indian  titles  "should  present  their 
deeds  to  be  passed  on  by  the  Assembly."  De- 
scending to  minuter  particulars,  we  find  a  law 
against  fast  riding-^first,  in  "  the  compact  parts 
of  Newport,"  and  not  long  after,  of  Providence, 
also.  We  find  it  also  ordered  that  a  bell  be  pro- 
vided and  set  up  in  some  convenient  place  for 
calling  the  Assembly  and  courts  and  council  to- 
gether. Of  deeper  interest  was  the  act  appoint- 
ing a  committee  to  make  a  digest  of  the  laws, 
"that  they  may  be  putt  in  print."  Only  part, 
however,  of  this  resolution  was  carried  out,  and 
it  was  not  till  1719  that  the  laws  were  put  into 
a  permanent  form. 

Not  the  laws  only  but  the  language  in  which 
they  were  expressed  attracted  attention.  \Ve 
now  meet  for  the  first  time  in  the  enacting  clause 
of  a  law,  "and  by  the  authority  thereof  be  it 
ordained,  enacted  and  declared."  Instead  of  ex- 
ecutor administrator  was  written,  "it  being  in 
that  case  the  more  proper  and  usual  term  in  the 
law."  In  one  act  wre  find  an  instance  of  grim 
humor.  The  accounts  of  a  general  sergeant  were 
found  to  be  in  inextricable  confusion.  The  audit- 
ing committee  resolved  to  call  them  square  "and 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  91 

voted  that  by  this  act  there  is  a  full  and  fynal 
issue  of  all  differences  relative  to  said  accounts 
from  the  beginninge  of  the  world  unto  this  present 
Assembly." 

In  some  instances  the  public  mind  was  not 
made  up  concerning  a  law,  and  one  Assembly 
would  undo  the  work  of  its  predecessor.  One  of 
the  most  important  acts  of  this  class  was  an  act 
denying  the  revisory  power  of  the  Assembly  over 
decisions  of  courts  of  trials.  In  the  August  ses- 
sion of  1680,  after  two  years  of  experiment,  the 
act  was  repealed. 

The  existence  of  a  law  proves,  also,  the  exist- 
ence of  an  evil.  In  the  May  session  of  1679,  we 
find  an  act  for  the  protection  of  servants,  whom 
"sundry  persons  being  evil-minded"  were  in 
the  habit  of  overtasking  at  home,  and  then  hiring 
others  to  let  out  for  work  on  Sunday— thus  in- 
fringing the  law  which  practically  made  Sunday 
a  holiday.  This  is  not  a  pleasant  picture,  but  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  forbidding  the  abuse 
shows  that  public  opinion  was  sound.  We  find, 
also,  that  then  as  now  sailors  were  more  or  less 
at  the  mercy  of  sailor  landlords.  The  Assembly 
took  up  their  defence.  Those  who  trusted  a 
sailor  for  more  than  five  shillings  without  an 
order  from  his  captain  forfeited  their  claim. 
Another  law  bearing  directly  upon  navigation 
was  passed  in  the  May  session  of  1679.  "The 
master  of  every  vessel  of  over  twenty  tons  bur- 
then was  required  to  report  himself  to  the  head 


92  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

officer  of  the  town  upon  arrival  and  departure, 
and  if  over  ten  days  in  port,  then  to  set  up  notice 
in  two  public  places  in  the  town  three  days  be- 
fore sailing."  In  this  last  act  we  see  the  in- 
fluence of  the  navigation  act  which  was  so  long 
held  to  be  the  guardian  genius  of  England's  com- 
mercial prosperity,  and  which  was  communicated 
to  all  the  colonies  by  royal  edict  in  1680. 

And  here,  as  illustrative  of  border  life  when 
Rhode  Island  was  a  border  colony,  comes  the 
story  of  John  Clawson's  curse.  This  John  Claw- 
son  was  a  hired  servant  of  Roger  Williams,  who. 
at  the  instigation  of  a  desperate  fellow  by  the 
name  of  Herendeen,  was  attacked  in  the  night 
from  behind  a  thicket  of  barberry  bushes,  near 
the  old  north  burial  ground  by  an  Indian  named 
Waurnaion.  The  Indian,  who  was  armed  with  a 
broad  axe.  split  open  Clawson's  chin  at  the  first 
blow.  The  wound  was  mortal,  but  the  wounded 
man  lived  long  enough  to  utter  his  curse — that 
"Herendeen  and  his  posterity  might  be  marked 
with  split  chins  and  haunted  with  barberry 
bushes"  forever.  The  malediction,  legend  says, 
was  fulfilled,  and  the  descendants  of  the  murderer 
were  still  distinguished  in  the  last  century  l>y  a 
furrowed  chin,  and  fired  up  with  indignation  at 
the  mention  of  a  barberry  bush. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

COURTS   AND   ARMY   STRENGTHENED.— COMMISSIONERS    SENT 
FROM  ENGLAND. —  CHARTER   REVOKED. 

DISPUTES  of  title  fill,  as  we  have  seen,  a  full 
but  monotonous  chapter  in  this  part  of  our  his- 
tory. Among  them  was  the  dispute  for  Poto- 
womut,  a  neck  of  land  on  Coweset  Bay  which  had 
been  purchased  of  the  Indians  by  order  of  the 
Assembly  as  early  as  1659.  Bitter  disputes  soon 
followed,  Warwick  claiming  it,  and  individuals 
both  English  and  Indians  disputing  the  claim. 
At  last  the  question  was  disposed  of,  as  was  sup- 
posed, finally,  at  a  town  meeting  in  1680,  in 
which  it  was  divided  "into  fifty  equal  lots  or 
rights,  and  the  names  of  the  proprietors  were 
inserted  on  the  records."  But  the  very  next  year 
we  meet  it  again  as  a  contest  between  Warwick 
and  Kingston.  At  last  the  Assembly  interposed, 
forbidding  all  occupancy  of  the  land  till  further 
orders,  warning  off  intruders,  but  permitting  the 
Warwick  men  to  mow  and  improve  the  meadows 
as  heretofore. 

Among  the  questions  brought  before  the  As- 
sembly in  the  time  of  these  disputes,  was  the 
question  of  the  power  of  the  Town  Council  to 
reject  or  accept  new  citizens.  The  question  was 


94  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

brought  up  by  Providence  and  decided  in  the 
affirmative.  The  form  of  application  for  leave 
to  reside  has  been  preserved:  "To  ye  Towne 
mett  this  15th  of  December  1680.  My  request  to 
ye  Towne  is ;  that  they  woold  grant  the  liberty 
to  reside  in  ye  Towne  during  the  Townes  Appro- 
bation, behaving  myselfe  as  a  civill  man  ought 
to  doe,  Desireing  not  to  putt  ye  Towne  to  any 
charge  by  my  residing  here ;  and  for  what  ye 
Towne  shall  cause  farther  to  enquire  of  me,  I 
shall  see  I  hope  to  give  them  a  true  and  sober 
Answer  thereunto.  Yor  friend  and  servant  Tho. 
Waters." 

One  of  the  lessons  of  the  war  had  been  the  im- 
portance of  cavalry,  and  in  1682  a  company  was 
raised  in  the  main-lajid  towns  consisting  of 
thirty -six  men,  exclusive  of  officers.  To  put  them 
on  the  same  footing  with  the  infantry  they  were 
allowed  the  same  privileges,  and  held  to  the  same 
obligation  of  exercising  six  days  in  the  year. 
Not  long  after  the  number  of  majors  was  doubled, 
and  John  Greene  appointed  for  the  main-land 
and  John  Coggeshall  for  the  island.  Measures 
were  also  taken  to  give  greater  efficiency  to  the 
courts,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  October  ses- 
sions should  be  held  in  Providence  and  Warwick 
annually.  That  there  might  be  no  delay  in  the 
execution  of  sentences,  each  of  these  towns  was 
required  to  furnish  a  cage  and  stocks.  Thus 
surely  but  gradually  the  resolute  Colony  went 
on  in  its  work  of  organization.  But  perilous  days 
were  at  hand. 


HISTOKY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  95 

The  appeals  of  the  colonies  to  England  had 
attracted  her  attention  to  these  distant  domains, 
which  but  for  that  might  long  have  continued  to 
grow  and  prosper  in  obscurity.  But  when  called 
upon  to  grant  privileges  she  naturally  began  to 
examine  into  the  nature  of  her  rights,  and  inter- 
preted them  not  by  the  genius  of  the  colonies, 
but  by  the  commercial  interests  of  the  mother 
country.  The  aqt  of  navigation,  which  had  its 
origin  in  English  jealousy  of  Holland,  bore  hard 
from  the  beginning  on  the  commercial  industry 
of  the  colonies.  Although  first  passed  by  the 
republican  Parliament  of  1651,  it  did  not  become 
an  efficient  act  until  the  first  Parliament  of 
Charles  II.  in  1660,  when  it  was  formally  pro- 
claimed in  all  the  colonies  by  beat  of  drum. 
Custom-houses  with  all  their  parapheranalia 
followed  close  in  its  track.  The  burthen  was 
soon  felt,  and  smuggling,  the  natural  relief  of 
overtaxed  commerce,  became  general.  The  bays 
and  inlets  of  New  England  afforded  great  facili- 
ties for  illicit  trade,  and  the  public  conscience 
could  not  long  resist  the  temptation:  We  shall 
see  before  another  century  is  over  to  what  Eng- 
land's narrow  policy  led. 

Questions  relating  to  the  colonies  were  gen- 
erally referred  to  the  Board  of  Trade.  In  1680 
came  a  letter  from  the  board  containing  twenty- 
seven  queries  concerning  Rhode  Island.  The 
agents  in  England  also  went  prepared  to  give  all 
the  information  that  was  required  for  the  under- 


96  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

standing  of  the  claims  and  condition  of  the  Col- 
ony. As  long  as  Charles,  the  grantor  of  the 
charter  lived,  there  was  nothing  done  to  excite 
alarm.  But  no  sooner  did  his  bigoted  brother 
ascend  the  throne,  than  it  became  evident  that 
an  entire  change  was  to  be  made  in  colonial  policy. 
Rhode  Island  was  quick  to  feel  the  blow.  A 
commission  of  nine  was  appointed  to  settle  the 
vexed  question  of  King' s  Province.  Head  of  the 
commission  was  the  notorious  Cranfield,  who  had 
made  himself  a  bad  name  by  his  tyrannical  gov- 
ernment of  New  Hampshire.  Next  came  Ran- 
dolph, detested  in  Massachusetts  for  his  oppres- 
sive administration  of  the  acts  of  trade.  These 
names  excited  gloomy  anticipations  which  were 
presently  fulfilled. 

And  here  let  us  pause  a  moment  to  observe  the 
exact  situation  of  Rhode  Island  at  this  critical 
emergency.  Having  had  her  origin  in  a  practical 
appeal  from  the  intolerance  of  Massachusetts, 
she  had  never  been  admitted  to  the  confederation 
which  gave  unity  and  strength  to  the  other  New 
England  colonies.  Her  doctrine  of  soul-liberty 
was  a  stench  in  their  nostrils,  and  her  possession 
of  the  broad  and  beautiful  Xarragansett  Bay  so 
favorable  for  maritime  and  internal  commerce, 
was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  constant  subject  of  bicker- 
ing and  envy.  Massachusetts  laid  claim  to  Paw- 
tuxet  and  Warwick,  and  a  Massachusetts  com- 
pany to  part  of  Narragansett ;  Connecticut  to  a 
large  portion  of  the  remainder  of  Narragansett, 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  97 

Plymouth  to  Aquidneck  and  other  islands  of  the 
Bay.  Little  was  left  to  Rhode  Island  but  the 
plantations  on  the  Mooshausick.  All  of  these 
claims  were  enforced  by  all  the  means  and  arts 
within  the  command  of  the  stronger  colonies 
except  actual  war,  and  resisted  with  admirable 
resolution  and  perseverance  by  the  weaker  colony. 
We  have  seen  how  agents  were  sent  to  plead  her 
cause  at  the  court  of  their  common  sovereign, 
how  every  attempt  to  establish  jurisdiction  had 
been  promptly  resisted  and  every  intrusion  in- 
stantly repelled.  In  the  darkest  hour  she  never 
lost  heart  nor  bated  one  jot  her  rights.  But  the 
darkest  hour  of  all  was  at  hand. 

Cranfield  and  Randolph  set  themselves  zeal- 
ously to  their  congenial  task.  The  Assembly 
met  for  theirs.  The  Commissioners  refused  to 
establish  their  position  by  showing  their  creden- 
tials. The  Assembly  refused  to  recognize  them 
officially  without  credentials.  The  rupture  was 
open  and  violent.  The  Assembly  appointed  new 
agents  to  repair  to  court  and  lay  the  evidence  in 
behalf  of  the  Colony  before  the  King.  A  tax  of 
four  hundred  pounds  was  imposed  to  meet  their 
expenses.  Much  importance  was  attached  to  an 
address  to  the  King  drawn  up  by  Randall  Holden 
and  John  Greene.  Meanwhile  the  Commissioners 
on  their  part  were  not  idle.  Cranfield  wrote  to 
the  Board  of  Trade  that  the  colonies  were  dis- 
loyal. "It  never  will  be  otherwise,"  he  added, 
"till  their  charters  are  broke  and  the  college  at 

7 


98  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Cambridge  utterly  extirpated,  for  from  thence 
these  half-witted  philosophers  turn  either  Athe- 
ists or  seditious  preachers."  He  was  right,  for 
it  was  at  Cambridge  that  Otis  and  Quincy&nd 
Warren  and  the  two  Adamses  imbibed  the  prin- 
ciples which  led  to  independence. 

It  was  in  1684,  in  the  midst  of  these  struggles, 
that  a  petition  of  the  Jews  for  protection  was 
presented  to  the  Assembly  and  granted — Rhode 
Island  remaining  true  to  the  last  to  the  principle 
of  her  origin. 

The  decision  of  the  Royal  Commissioners  was 
unfavorable  to  Rhode  Island,  and  it  is  hard  to 
see  how  she  could  have  escaped  mutilation.  But 
she  was  menaced  by  a  still  greater  danger.  In 
1684  Charles  the  Second  died,  and  his  brother 
James  ascended  the  throne,  bringing  with  him  a 
narrow  mind  and  a  bad  heart.  To  establish  an 
arbitrary  government  and  restore  the  supremacy 
of  the  Romish  Church  were  the  cardinal  points 
of  his  policy.  The  American  colonies  afforded 
a  favorable  field  for  the  trial.  It  began  by  the 
revocation  of  their  charters,  and  was  speedily  fol- 
lowed up  by  putting  the  government  of  the  JSVw 
England  colonies  under  one  head. 

Rhode  Island  found  herself  where  she  stood  at 
the  beginning,  a  government  of  towns.  Her 
original  four  towns  had  united  under  one  govern- 
ment for  self-defence,  and  now  that  they  were 
arbitrarily  separated  by  a  power  too  great  to  be 
resisted  they  naturally  fell  back  upon  their  orig- 


.       HISTORY   OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  99 

inal  municipal  institutions.  This  closing  scene 
is  not  without  its  dignity.  The  Assembly  met  at 
its  accustomed  time.  The  Governor,  Walter 
Clarke,  solemnly  called  upon  the  freemen  for 
counsel.  The  whole  question  of  dangers  and 
difficulties  was  discussed,  and  wisely  preferring 
petition  to  resistance,  it  was  resolved  to  address 
.a  solemn  appeal  to  the  King  for  the  preservation 
of  their  charter.  Then  all  returned  to  its  original 
order.  The  freemen  met  and  discussed  their 
town  interests  in  their  town  meetings.  Town 
officers  elected  by  their  townsmen  performed 
their  accustomed  duties.  The  tradesman  and 
the  farmer  went  on  in  his  chosen  calling  and  the 
towns  throve  and  prospered,  still  looking  with 
unwavering  trust  to  a  day  of  redemption. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

CHANGES  IN  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT.— SIR  EDMOXD  ANDROS 
APPOINTED  GOVERNOR.— HE  OPPRESSES  THE  COLONISTS 
AND  IS  FINALLY  DEPOSED. 

THUS  a  provisional  government  took  the  place 
of  the  charter  government  under  which  >Vw 
England  had  grown  so  rapidly.  A  great  and 
successful  experiment  in  political  science  was 
suddenly  checked,  and  hopes  which  had  leo 
many  devout  and  earnest  men  to  renounce  the 
conveniences  of  home  for  the  perils  and  discom- 
forts of  a  wilderness  were  rudely  crushed  at  the 
VHiy  moment  when  they  seemed  nearest  their  ful- 
fillment. The  same  blow  which  fell  upon  Rhode 
Island  fell  with  equal  fatality  upon  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut.  The  government  by  char- 
ter ceased.  The  two  most  active  agents  of  James 
in  this  remoulding  of  the  government  of  the 
colonies  were  Dudley.  President  of  the  Council, 
and  Randolph,  the  Secretary,  whose  despotic  con- 
duct in  Boston  has  already  been  mentioned.  Here 
was  a  broader  and  more  congenial  field. 

It  was  resolved  as  has  been  seen  to  address  the 
King  in  behalf  of  the  Colony,  and  John  Greene, 
venerable  by  years  and  illustrious  by  public 
services,  was  appointed  to  carry  the  address  to 


HISTOEY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  101 

England  and  advocate  it  as  agent  for  the  Colony. 
He  had  watched  over  the  cradle  of  the  Colony — 
who  so  fit  to  stand  by  its  grave. 

Unfortunately,  party  had  lost  none  of  its  viru- 
lence even  in  this  supreme  hour,  and  a  small 
minority  of  dissentients  was  found  to  the  sober 
and  judicious  conduct  of  the  Assembly.  Among 
them  were  members  of  the  Atherton  company,  and 
among  their  methods  of  attack  were  bitter  asper- 
sions upon  the  personal  character  of  the  colonial 
agent.  The  provisional  government  found  enough 
to  do  in  preparing  the  colonies  for  their  new  life, 
and  one  of  their  earliest  measures  was  a  final 
organization  of  King's  Province.  Among  the 
changes  that  they  made  was  the  changing  of  the 
names  of  its  three  towns.  Kingston,  the  largest, 
was  called  Rochester,  Westerly,  the  next  in  size, 
became  Haversham,  and  East  Greenwich,  the 
smallest,  took  the  name  of  Bedford.  The  western 
boundary  of  Haversham  was  Pawcatuck  River. 
Bedford  was  extended  on  the  north  to  Warwick, 
and  enlarged  by  the  peninsula  of  Potowomut. 
Part  of  the  actual  settlers  were  living  on  land  to 
which  they  had  no  legal  claim.  Preemption 
rights  were  granted  them  and  time  given  them  to 
"arrange  with  the  owners  by  rent  or  purchase." 

At  last,  on  the  20th  of  December,  1686,  the 
Royal  Governor,  Sir  Edmond  Andros,  arrived  in 
Boston.  He  came  in  a  ship  of  the  royal  navy 
and  brought  with  him  two  companies  of  the  royal 
army,  the  first  regular  troops  that  had  ever  been 


102  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

seen  in  Massachusetts.  He  had  already  been  in 
the  colonies  and  knew  the  spirits  with  whom  he 
would  have  to  deal.  Rhode  Island,  like  her  sis- 
ters, had  everything  to  fear  from  his  abitrary 
will.  But  she  had  treated  him  with  respectful 
consideration  on  his  former  visit,  and  was  now 
treated  by  him  with  less  than  his  usual  liarslin-  •  — . 

He  entered  at  once  upon  his  welcome  task,  the 
transformation  of  a  constitutional  government 
into  a  despotism.  Massachusetts  came  first  in 
order,  and  the  very  first  blow  was  a  deadly  one, 
an  outrage  upon  her  convictions  and  a  deep 
humiliation  to  her  pride.  Her  Puritan  theocracy, 
which  had  penetrated  even'  part  of  her  civil 
polity, » was  overthrown,  and  the  service  of  the 
church  of  England  was  openly  celebrated.  In 
this  Rhode  Island  had  no  change  to  fear,  for 
freedom  of  conscience  was.  till  other  ends  were 
accomplished,  the  doctrine  of  the  King  himself. 
In  all  other  things  all  the  colonies  fared  alike. 

We  have  seen  how  watchful  Rhode  Island  was 
of  the  taxing  power,  and  how  nearly  she  had 
reached  the  great  fundamental  principle  that 
taxation  and  representation  go  together.  Andros 
sent  out  his  tax-gatherers  without  consulting  the 
tax-payers.  His  object  was  to  raise  money,  no 
matter  how.  Farming  the  revenue,  always  a 
favorite  device  of  despotism,  offered  facilities 
which  he  promptly  turned  to  account.  The  aug- 
mentation of  fees  was  an  abundant  source.  Those 
of  probate  were  increased  twenty-fold.  Writs  of 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

intrusion  opened  another  channel  for  organized 
robbery.  No  one  could  tell  how  soon  he  might 
be  compelled  to  buy  his  farm  over  again.  Even 
marriage  afforded  a  field  for  the  display  of  arbi- 
trary power.  Necessity  at  first  compelled  the 
government  to  recognize  the  validity  of  civil  mar- 
riages. But  as  the  transformation  of  laws  and 
usages  progressed,  no  marriages  were  recognized 
as  valid  which  were  not  celebrated  according  to 
the  rights  of  the  Church  of  England.  To  feel  the 
odious  tyranny  of  this  law  it  should  be  remembered 
that  there  was  but  one  Episcopal  clergyman  in 
the  Colony.  Another  oppressive  act  was  the  in- 
troduction of  passports,  whether  for  the  fees  they 
brought  in. or  in  order  to  throw  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  a  free  communication  among  the  colonies, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  tell. 

Andros's  commission  gave  him  the  power  to 
appoint  and  remove  his  counselors  at  will.  The 
council  consisted  of  nineteen  members,  five  of 
whom  were  from  Rhode  Island.  One  of  them, 
John  Greene,  was  absent  on  his  agency  in  Eng- 
land. Their  first  meeting  was  held  at  Boston. 
In  this  the  usual  oaths  of  allegiance  and  office 
were  taken,  the  two  Quaker  members  from  Rhode 
Island  being  allowed  to  make  their  affirmation. 
All  officers  in  commission  were  continued  in  office 
during  the  Governor' s  pleasure,  and  all  laws  that 
did  not  clash  with  the  laws  of  England,  were  re- 
tained. The  first  was  the  only  full  meeting  of 
this  impotent  board,  which  only  met  to  confirm 
the  resolves  of  an  arbitrary  Governor. 


104  HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

In  substance  Andros  had  his  own  way,  though 
not  without  occasional  opposition  and  now  and 
then  humiliation.  In  Rhode  Island  the  charter 
was  adroitly  put  out  of  his  reach  by  Governor 
Clarke  and  not  reproduced  till  he  had  left  New- 
port. In  Connecticut  it  was  hidden  in  the  hollow 
of  an  oak.  The  seal  of  Rhode  Island  was  broken. 
The  members  of  the  council  were  constantly 
changing,  and  few  of  them,  according  to  Ran- 
dolph, cared  for  the  King.  "His  Excellency  has 
to  do  with  a  perverse  people." 

We  meet  some  of  the  questions  of  our  own  day. 
Licenses  for  the  sale  of  liquor  were  granted  in 
Newport,  but  no  liquor  could  be  sold  in  King's 
Province.  How  well  the  prohibition,  was  obeyed 
it  is  impossible  to  say.  Poor  laws  also  appear  in 
the  guise  of  taxes  for  the  support  of  that  per- 
plexing part  of  the  population.  It  would  be 
tedious  and  useless  to  follow  the  despotic  Gover- 
nor through  all  the  changes  of  his  administration 
of  two  years  and  four  months.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  he  had  fully  imbibed  the  spirit  of  his  master, 
and  did  all  that  he  could  to  reduce  the  colonies  to 
servitude.  A  few  provisions,  however,  may  be 
mentioned  as  illustrating  the  condition  of  the 
country.  With  the  growth  of  the  towns  fires 
became  sources  of  danger.  To  enforce  watchful- 
ness the  person  in  whose  house  a  fire  broke  out 
was  fined  two  and  sixpence,  and  for  still  greater 
security  every  householder  was  required  to  set 
"  a,  ladder  reaching  to  the  ridge  pole,  to  every 


* 

f 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  105 

house  that  he  owned."  Attention  was  called  to 
the  fishing  in  Pettaquamscot  pond  and  an  order 
passed  for  encouraging  it.  A  tax  was  laid  for 
the  extermination  of  wolves,  which  seem  still  to 
have  been  very  numerous. 

In  April,  1688,  Andres's  commission  was  en- 
larged so  as  to  comprise  New  York  and  the  Jer- 
seys, all  under  the  general  appellation  of  New 
England.  Enlarged  powers  and  minute  instruc- 
tions accompanied  the  new  commission,  and 
among  the  former  was  the  subjection  of  the  press 
to  the  will  of  the  Governor. 

But  another  change  was  drawing  nigh.  There 
was  nothing  in  common  between  James  the 
Second  and  the  New  England  colonist,  and  An- 
dros  represented  his  master  too  faithfully  not 
to  be  bitterly  hated.  Even  Thanksgiving,  that 
thoroughly  New  England  festival,  was  neglected 
when  announced  by  his  proclamation.  Some 
spoke  out  their  detestation  openly  to  his  face. 
"I  suppose,"  he  said  one  morning  to  Dr.  Hooker, 
the  great  clerical  wit  of  Hartford,  "all  the  good 
people  of  Connecticut  are  fasting  and  praying  on 
my  account."  "Yes,"  replied  the  Doctor,  "we 
read,  '  This  kind  goeth  not  out  but  by  fasting  and 
prayer.' ' 

Rhode  Island  suffered  less  at  his  hands  than 
any  other  colony.  The  enforced  toleration  which 
excited  such  strong  feelings  in  Massachusetts 
met  with  no  opposition  in  a  territory  where  Bap- 
tists and  Quakers  and  Puritans  and  Separatists 


106  HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

worshipped  according  to  their  own  convictions. 
John  Greene  soon  became  aware  that  there  was  no 
prospect  of  a  return  to  the  free  life  of  the  charter 
so  long  as  James  held  the  throne.  Therefore, 
without  renouncing  the  hope  of  a  better  future, 
he  confined  his  negotiations  for  the  present  to 
questions  of  minor,  though  important  bearing. 
Chief  among  them  was  the  putting  an  end  to  the 
intrusions  of  the  outside  claimants  to  Narragnn- 
sett.  This  brought  up  all  the  unsettled  claims 
which  had  been  so  pertinaciously  enforced  and  so 
firmly  resisted.  The  Atherton  claim  was  thrown 
out  by  the  Commissioners  as  extorted  from  the 
Indians  by  fear.  The  Connecticut  claim  was  re- 
pudiated upon  grounds  set  forth  in  the  Rhode 
Island  charter.  Several  individual  titles,  both 
Indian  and  English,  were  considered,  and  after 
careful  examination,  the  right  of  Rhode  Island 
to  King's  Province  was  confirmed  for  the  third 
time — ''against  Connecticut  in  point  of  jurisdic- 
tion, and  against  the  so-called  proprietors  in  point 
of  ownership."  This  report  was  met  in  England 
Jby  a  petition  of  Lord  Culpepper  in  behalf  of  the 
Atherton  company  for  grants  of  land  not  already 
occupied  and  the  bass  ponds,  upon  such  quit  rents 
as  might  seem  good  to  the  King.  The  petition 
was  granted  in  part  and  Andros  was  intrusted  to 
"  assign  them  such  lands  as  had  not  already  been 
occupied — at  a  quit  rent  of  two  and  sixpence  for 
every  hundred  acres." 
Thus  far  Rhode  Island  has  come  off  with  honor 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  107 

in  her  contests  with  her  neighbors.     There  was 
one,  however,  in  which  she  won  no  honor.     A 
party  of  unfortunate  Huguenots  had  established 
themselves  in  King's  Province,   forming  a  little 
settlement  of  their  own  and  paying  honestly  for 
their  lands.     But  the  French  name  was  not  loved 
in  the  colonies  and  their  Protestant  neighbors 
persecuted  them  away.     Traces  of  them  may  still 
be  found  in  the  neighborhood  where  they  settled, 
which  bears  to  this  day  the  name  of  Frenchtown. 
Meanwhile  great  changes  were  taking  place  in 
England,  where  James  was  rapidly  running  his 
career  of  bigotry  and  oppression.     Slow  as  the 
communications  between  the  mother  country  and 
her  colonies  were  there  was  still  communication 
enough  to  enable  the  latter  to  form  some  concep- 
tion of  the  state  of  public  feeling  in  the  former. 
The   new  government  had   never  acquired  any 
stability  in  New  England.     The  Council  was  con- 
stantly changing,  and  after  the  first  meeting  never 
all  met  together  again.      The  public  mind  was 
ripe  for  revolution,  and  when  the  first  tidings  of 
the  fall  of  James  reached  New  England  she  was 
prepared    to  accept  them  with  all  their  conse- 
quences.    Unfortunately  for  Andros  he  was  in 
Boston  at  this  critical  moment,  and  Boston  was 
ready  to  act  with  her  wonted  vigor.     The  Gov- 
ernor was'summoned  to  surrender  his  authority,  • 
and  refusing,  was  thrown  into  prison.     Massa- 
chusetts made  haste  to  reorganize  her  government, 
but  her  charter  was  gone. 


O1IAPTEE    XV. 

CHARTER  GOVERNMENT  AGAIN  RESUMED.— FRENCH  WAR.— 
INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.— CHARGES  AGAINST  THE  COL- 
ONIES. 

KHODE  ISLAND  had  never  hated  Andros  as 
bitterly  as  the  other  colonies  had  hated  him,  for 
the  freedom  of  conscience  which  he  endeavored 
to  force  upon  them  was  in  her  a  fundamental 
principle.  But  she  loved  her  charter  and  rightly 
believed  that  it  was  the  only  sure  pledge  of  her 
liberties.  Therefore,  when  Dudley,  the  Chief- 
Justice,  undertook  to  open  his  court,  he  was 
seized  and  put  in  jail.  This  was  a  bold  casting 
off  of  the  new  government.  The  next  step  was  a 
cautious  return  to  the  old.  A  letter  from  New- 
port came  out  calling  upon  the  freemen  of  Rhode 
Island  to  meet  there  "before  the  day  of  usual 
election  by  charter,"  to  take  counsel  together 
concerning  public  affairs.  When  the  day  came 
the  freemen  met,  and  doubtless  with  all  their 
usual  freedom  of  debate,  prepared  a  statement 
of  their  reasons  for  resuming  their  charter  gov- 
ernment. Party  lines  were  already  sharply 
drawn.  On  one  side  were  the  Royalists,  led  by 
the  rich  merchant,  Francis  Brinley,  who  opposed 
the  resumption  of  the  charter,  and  called  for  a 


HISTORY   OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  109 

general  government  by  immediate  appointment 
of  the  King.  On  the  other  were  the  Republicans, 
stronger  both  by  number  and  by  fervor  of  opinion. 
Their  boldness  secured  the  freedom  of  the  Colony. 
In  an  address  to  "the  present  supreme  power  of 
England,"  they  gave  their  reasons  for  returning 
to  their  charter,  and  asked  to  have  their  action 
approved.  Deputy-Governor  Coggeshall,  with 
several  assistants,  resumed  their  functions,  but 
Governor  Clarke,  whose  characteristic  trait  was 
caution,  declined  and  the  Colony  was  ten  months 
without  a  governor. 

Still,  in  May,  all  the  old  officers  were  reinstated 
and  "all  the  laws  superseded  in  1686"  resumed 
their  place  on  the  schedule.  "  The  charter  was 
produced  in  open  Assembly"  and  then  restored 
to  Governor  Clarke  for  safe  keeping.  When  the 
question  of  the  legality  of  the  resumption  of 
charter  government  came  before  the  King,  he 
approved  it  upon  the  written  opinion  of  the  law 
officers  of  the  crown  that  ' '  the  charter,  never 
having  been  revoked,  but  only  suspended,  still 
remained  in  full  force  and  effect."  Heartily 
must  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  have  rejoiced 
that  theirs  had  been  so  successfully  guarded.  In 
May  came  the  welcome  tidings  that  William  and 
Mary  had  been  acknowledged  in  England.  They 
were  promptly  and  joyfully  acknowledged  in  the 
colonies.  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  a  great  name  in 
Massachusetts,  was  in  London  on  behalf  of  the 
colonies  when  the  revolution  broke  out.  He  ob- 


110  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

tained  an  early  audience  of  William  and  pleaded 
for  the  recall  of  Andros.  The  recall  was  granted, 
and  after  ten  months  of  confinement  the  crest- 
fallen Governor  was  sent  to  England  for  trial. 
But  his  conduct  was  viewed  in  a  different  light 
in  the  mother  country  from  what  it  had  been  in 
the  colonies.  "The  charges  against  him  were 
dismissed  by  the  royal  order,  on  the  ground  of 
insufficiency  —  and  that  he  had  done  nothing 
which  was  not  fully  justified  by  his  instructions." 
As  a  compensation  for  his  long  imprisonment,  he 
was  presently  made  Governor  of  Virginia. 

In  February,  1689-90,  the  Assembly  met  for 
the  first  time  in  four  years  and  entered  upon 
the  work  of  organization.  Seventeen  deputies, 
together  with  the  officers  chosen  in  May,  were 
present.  Absentees  were  summoned.  Clarke 
refused  to  serve  as  Governor.  Christopher  Almy 
also  declined.  The  bold  but  aged  Henry  Bull 
was  chosen  in  his  stead.  After  some  hesitation 
Clarke  gave  up  the  charter  and  other  official 
papers.  Funds  which  had  been  appropriated  to 
the  building  of  a  Colony  House  were  held  by 
Roger  Goulding,  who  promptly  paid  them  over. 
Andros  had  broken  the  original  colonial  seal. 
A  new  seal,  Hope  with  her  anchor,  was  procured. 
Rhode  Island's  exposed  situation  laid  her  open  to 
attacks  by  sea,  and  thus  imposed  the  necessity  of 
new  expenses.  War  had  broken  out  between 
England  and  France,  and  the  colonies  were  to 
come  in  for  their  share  of  war' s  sufferings.  Some 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  Ill 

/  fear  was  felt  of  the  colony  in  Frenchtown,  and 
the  few  survivors  of  the  unfortunate  settlement 
were  required  to  repair  to  the  office  of  John 
Greene,  in  Warwick,  and  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  King. 

Thus  the  government  was  regularly  organized 
and  public  business  began  to  move  on  in  its 
accustomed  track.  At  the  May  session  of  1690 
Governor  Bull  declined  a  reelection,  and  John 
Easton  was  chosen  in  his  place.  John  Greene 
was  chosen  Deputy-Governor.  One  more  was 
added  to  the  list  of  assistants,  who  thus  became 
ten.  Here  ends  the  probation  of  Rhode  Island. 

Poor  and  weak,  through  toil  and  sacrifice,  in 
spite  of  internal  dissensions  and  external  enmities, 
calumniated  for  the  great  truth  on  which  she  was 
founded,  coveted  for  the  beautiful  territory  which 
she  had  redeemed  from  the  wilderness,  she  had 
solved  the  problem  of  self-government  and  proved 
that  the  religious  virtues  may  flourish  without 
the  aid  of  civil  authority.  The  struggle  for 
existence  is  over.  She  now  enters  through  indus- 
try upon  the  path  to  wealth  and  culture. 

The  sessions  of  the  Assembly  had  been  held 
hitherto  in  taverns  or  private  houses.  But  now 
a  proper  edifice,  the  town  house,  is  built  for 
public  use  and  the  public  meetings  are  held  in  it. 
Thus  far,  also,  the  governor,  the  deputy-gov- 
ernor and  the  assistants  have  received  no  compen- 
sation for  their  services.  They  are  henceforth 
exempted  from  the  Colony  tax.  War  with  the 


112  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

French  and  Indians  was  raging  all  along  the 
northern  frontier.  New  York  was  the  colony 
most  exposed.  Leister,  her  Governor,  called  on 
the  other  colonies  for  aid.  Rhode  Island,  whose 
extensive  water  fronts  left  her  open  to  attacks  by 
sea,  could  not  send  men,  and  therefore  taxed 
herself  three  hundred  pounds  to  send  money. 
The  wisdom  of  this  course  was  soon  apparent. 
Seven  French  privateers  made  a  descent  upon  the 
islands  on  the  coast,  committing  horrible  excesses. 
Bonfires  were  kindled  at  Pawcatuck  to  alarm  the 
country,  and  a  sloop  well  manned  sent  out  from 
Newport  to  reconnoitre.  A  night  attempt  was 
made  upon  the  town  but  failed.  One  upon  New 
London  was  repulsed.  Two  sloops  carrying 
ninety  men  were  sent  out  under  Thomas  Paine 
and  John  Godfrey  to  fight  the  enemy.  A  bloody 
battle  which  lasted  two  hours  and  a  half  followed, 
and  the  French  were  driven  off  with  the  loss  of 
half  their  crews  and  a  valuable  prize.  Block 
Island  was  particularly  exposed  during  this  war. 
Four  attacks  were  made  upon  it,  the  inhabitants 
ill  treated  and  their  cattle  driven  off.  In  the  last 
invasion  the  privateersmen  were  defeated  in  "an 
open  pitched  battle." 

The  war  pressed  so  "heavily  on  the  commercial 
interests  of  the  community  that  it  was  found 
necessary  to  lay  a  tonnage  duty  of  a  shilling  a 
ton  upon  the  vessels  over  ten  tons  burthen  of 
other  colonies  that  broke  bulk  in  Newport  harbor. 
The  payment  might  be  made  in  money  or  in 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  113 

powder,  at  the  rate  of  a  shilling  a  pound,  and 
the  products  of  the  duty  were  employed  in  keep- 
ing up  a  powder  magazine  on  the  island.  Rhode 
Islanders  had  not  yet  learnt  to  pay  their  taxes 
promptly,  and  more  than  once  the  Assembly  was 
called  together  to  devise  the  means  of  collecting 
sums  already  voted.  The  tonnage  duty  was  a 
welcome,  though  a  small  contribution,  to  the 
scanty  resources  of  the  little  Colony.  A  few 
years  later  a  new  source  was  opened  by  the  levy 
of  a  duty  upon  foreign  wines,  liquors  and  molas- 
ses— that  upon  molasses  being  a  half-penny  a 
gallon.  In  the  August  session  of  1698  an  elabo- 
rate tax  law  in  twelve  sections  was  enacted,  and 
a  tax  of  eight  hundred  pounds  currency  was 
voted.  By  this  act  a  poll  tax  of  a  shilling  a  head 
was  imposed  upon  all  males  between  sixteen  and 
sixty.  But  this,  also,  was  not  easily  collected, 
and  years  passed  before  an  adequate  method  of 
taxation  was  devised  and  applied. 

Shortly  after  the  return  to  the  charter  the 
small-pox  broke  out.  "  Rhode  Island  is  almost 
destroyed  by  the  small-pox,"  says  a  cotemporary 
letter."  When  the  Assembly  met  they  were 
unable  to  open  the  session  with  the  prescribed 
formalities,  for  the  only  copy  of  the  charter  was 
in  the  keeping  of  the  recorder,  who  was  sick  with 
the  dreaded  disease,  and  the  reading  of  the  charter 
was  the  first  step  towards  organization.  When 
the  pestilence  was  passed,  the  attention  of  legisla- 
tion was  directed  to  the  militia  laws,  which  were 
revised  and  brought  more  into  harmony  with  the 


114  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

material  wants  of  the  Colony.  In  this  connection 
it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  remember  that  the 
town  house  was  enlarged  and  a  belfry  added  to 
it.  Government  'was  gradually  putting  on  the 
external  forms  of  authority. 

In  1691  a  change  occurred  on  the  eastern  border 
which  threatened  her  inter-colonial,  relations. 
Plymouth  was  merged  in  Massachusetts,  which 
was  thus  brought  into  larger  contact  with  Rhode 
Island.  Sir  William  Phipps,  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, was  appointed  Governor,  with  a  com- 
mission which  gave  him  command  over  all  the 
forces  of  New  England,  by  land  and  by  sea — a 
flagrant  violation  of  the  charters  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticut,  and  which  was  vigorously  re- 
pelled. Older  grievances  were  not  entirely  healed. 
Some  Pawcatuck  men  asked  to  be  placed  under 
the  laws  of  Connecticut.  The  leaven  of  the 
Atherton  company  dispute  had  not  yet  spent 
its  force.  But  the  change  of  tone  in  the  language 
of  the  correspondence  shows  that  the  bitterness 
which  had  distinguished  its  early  stages  was 
gradually  passing  away. 

This  (1692)  was  the  time  of  the  witchcraft  trials 
in  Massachusetts,  a  delusion  in  which  Rhode 
Island  did  not  share,  for  though  she  gave  witch- 
craft a  place  on  her  statute  books  as  a  tribute  to  a 
superstition  of  the  age,  she  never  brought  it  into 
her  courts.  She  was  busied  with  more  important 
questions. 

Phipps  was  urging  his  claim  to  command  the 
New  England  forces.  John  Greene,  now  Deputy- 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  115 

Governor,  went  to  Boston  with  one  of  the  assist- 
ants to  discuss  the  matter.  They  got  no  satisfac- 
tion from  the  aspiring  governor,,  either  upon  the 
question  of  command  or  upon  the  equally  impor- 
tant question  of  the  boundary  line.  The  whole 
matter  was  referred  to  the  Board  of  Trade  and 
by  them  to  the  Attorney- General,  who  decided  in 
favor  of  Rhode  Island.  A  distinction,  however, 
was  made  between  peace  and  war.  In  time  of 
war  the  commander-in-chief  might,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  governor,  call  out  the  quota  pre- 
scribed by  the  Board  of  Trade.  Rhode  Island's 
quota  for  service  under  the  Governor  of  New 
York  was  forty -eight  men.  The  eastern  bound- 
ary question  was  referred  to  the  New  York 
Council  as  being  disinterested  and  near  the  spot. 
The  Narragansett  dispute  though  so  often  decided 
in  favor  of  Rhode  Island,  still  reappeared  from 
time  to  time.  Several  years  were  yet  to  pass 
before  the  boundaries  both  on  the  east  and  the 
west  were  definitively  settled  and  the  stout  little 
Colony  secured  in  the  possession  of  her  own  ter- 
ritory. I  shall  no  longer  attempt  to  follow  the 
story  through  its  obscure  ramifications.  It  has 
served  thus  far  to  illustrate  colonial  life,  and 
show  with  what  tenacity  of  purpose  and  devotion 
to  a  great  principle  Rhode  Island  followed  up  her 
labor  of  organization.  It  was  the  border  war  of 
our  colonial  history. 

The  necessity  of  regular  communication  between 
the  colonies  began  to  be  seriously  felt,  and  part  of 
John  Greene's  mission  to  Boston  in  1692  was  to 


116  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

negotiate  the  establishment  of  a  post  office.  Early 
in  the  following  year  Thomas  Neale,  acting  under 
patent  from  the  King,  established  a  weekly  mail 
from  Boston  to  Virginia.  Rhode  Island  came  in 
for  her  share  of  the  advantage:  The  rate  of  post- 
age upon  a  single  inland  letter  from  Boston  to 
Rhode  Island  was  sixpence.  And  thus  was  woven 
one  of  the  first  links  in  the  chain  which,  before 
another  century  was  passed,  had  bound  all  the 
colonies  in  an  indissoluble  union. 

We  have  seen  a  gradual  approach  towards  a 
just  comprehension  of  the  relations  of  the  state 
to  its  officers.  The  decisive  step  was  taken  in 
1695,  when  a  salary  of  ten  pounds  was  voted  to 
the  governor,  six  pounds  to  the  deputy-governor, 
four  pounds  to  the  assistants  and  three  shillings 
a  day  to  the  deputies  while  in  session.  Absen- 
tees forfeited  twice  their  pay. 

In  the  following  year  an  important  change  was 
made  in  the  organization  of  the  Assembly,  the 
deputies  becoming  a  separate  house  coordinate 
with  the  assistants,  each  house  occupying  a  separ- 
ate room  and  having  a  veto  upon  the  action  of 
the  other.  It  will  help  to  form  a  correct  idea  of 
daily  life  in  the  country  if  I  add  that  a  bounty 
of  ten  shillings  was  paid  for  killing  old  wolves, 
and  of  the  seaports  and  sea  coast  that  privateers 
were  fitted  out  from  them  with  very  irregular 
commissions.  Blackbirds  fared  hard  in  Ports- 
mouth, where  every  householder  was  required  to 
kill  twelve  before  the  tenth  of  May,  under  penalty 
of  two  shillings,  and  with  a  premium  of  a  shilling 


HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  117 

a  head  for  all  over  twelve.  This  was  to  serve  as 
a  protection  for  fields.  But  the  serious  danger 
was  from  the  Indians,  for  the  treaty  of  Ryswick 
gave  for  sometime  but  an  imperfect  peace  to  the 
colonies.  Inroads  of  Indians  were  frequent  and 
sudden.  Never  had  the  councils  of  war  been 
more  active  or  more  constantly  in  session,  and 
never  had  the  men  who  were  fit  for  service  been 
more  constantly  under  arms.  Scouting  parties 
of  ten  men  were  sent  out  every  two  days  to  serve 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  plantations.  Such  were 
the  trials  of  the  second  generation  of  colonizers. 

The  violation  of  the  acts  of  trade  and  lax  deal- 
ing with  privateers  became  so  flagrant  that  the 
home  government  after  many  vain  complaints 
resolved  to  establish  courts  of  admirality  in  all 
the  colonies.  The  attorney-general  was  consulted 
and  said  there  was  nothing  in  their  charters  to 
prevent  it.  The  colonial  agents  exerted  them- 
selves earnestly  to  ward  off  the  blow,  but  with- 
out success,  and  when  the  Rhode  Island  agent, 
Jahleel  Brenton,  returned  in  December,  1697-8,  he 
brought  a  commission  to  Peleg  Sandford  as 
Judge,  and  to  Nathaniel  Coddington  as  Register. 
Governor  Clarke  opposed  it  and  tried  to  induce 
the  Assembly  to  join  in  the  opposition.  Brenton 
advised  that  he  should  be  impeached,  whereupon 
Clarke  resigned  in  favor  of  his  nephew,  Samuel 
Cranston. 

The  Colony  was  entering  upon  a  new  period  of 
trial  and  danger.  The  enemies  of  her  chartered 
rights  were  numerous  and  powerful,  and  unhap- 


118  HISTORY   OF   ERODE   ISLAND. 

pily  for  her  were  supported  in  their  charges  by 
a  dangerous  array  of  specious  evidence.  The 
rival  interests  were  represented  by  men  admirably 
fitted  for  their  respective  tasks.  The  Royal  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  Lord  Bellemont,  a  man 
of  singular  ability  and  strength  of  character, 
represented  the  party  that  would  have  made  New 
England  a  vice-royalty.  Cranston,  firm,  resolute 
and  self-possessed,  held  that  Rhode  Island  under 
the  protection  of  her  charter  had  fully  proved 
her  capacity  for  self-government. 

The  great  interest  at  stake  was  the  interest  of 
trade.  Domestic  trade  was  fostered  and  pro- 
tected. Peddling  was  prohibited  as  injurious  to 
regular  traffic.  Pains  were  taken  to  secure  uni- 
formity of  weights  and  measures.  In  all  this  no 
power  was  assumed  which  the  spirit  if  not  the 
letter  of  the  charter  did  not  fully  grant.  But 
the  act  of  navigation  had  raised  up  an  enemy  to 
foreign  trade  which  in  time  of  war  encouraged 
privateering  and  in  time  of  peace  led  to  piracy. 
The  treaty  of  Ryswick  left  many  hardy  spirits 
afloat,  greedy  for  gold  and  unscrupulous  in  their 
pursuit  of  it. 

The  American  coast  offered  great  facilities  for 
smuggling,  and  it  was  only  as  smugglers  that 
pirates  or  privateersmen  could  convert  their 
prizes  into  money.  Much  of  this  money  it  is  said 
was  buried  in  retired  nooks  of  the  inlets  and  bays 
along  the  coast.  The  royal  revenues  suffered 
greatly  by  this  illicit  trade,  and  the  royal  agents 
accused  the  colonists  of  openly  favoring  it.  ' '  The 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  119 

people  of  New  York,"  wrote  Lord  Bellemont  to 
the  Board  of  Trade,  "have  such  an  appetite  for 
piracy  and  unlawful  trade  that  they  are  ready  to 
rebel  as  often  as  the  government  puts  the  law  in 
execution  against  them."  Rhode  Island  was 
held  to  be  a  favorite  resort  of  these  bold  adven- 
turers. Both  Cranston  her  Governor,  and  John 
Greene  her  Deputy-Governor  were  accused  of 
favoring  them.  Greene,  who  had  been  elected 
ten  years  in  succession,  was  dropped  in  1700,  but 
Cranston  was  reflected  from  year  to  year,  thirty 
years  in  succession. 

Meanwhile  Bellemont,  whose  hostility  was  em- 
bittered by  the  instigations  of  Randolph,  went 
on  collecting  document  upon  document,  till  the 
formidable  list  amounted  to  twenty-five  heads  of 
accusation — chief  of  which  was  connivance  with 
pirates — and,  as  he  wrote  to  the  Board  of  Trade, 
"making  Rhode  Island  their  sanctuary."  Should 
the  Board  of  Trade  accept  these  accusations, 
what  could  preserve  the  Colony  from  a  quo  war- 
ranto?  Nothing  did  save  her  but  the  death  of 
the  Royal  Governor. 

To  this  period  belongs  the  story  of  Captain 
Kidd,  long  the  subject  of  many  a  fearful  tradi- 
tion and  all  the  more  widely  known  from  having 
exchanged  an  admiral's  flag  for  the  black  flag 
of  the  corsair.  After  a  wild  and  adventurous 
career  in  the  Indian  ocean  he  came  to  the  Amer- 
ican coast,  and  showing  himself  boldly  in  the 
streets  of  Boston  was  arrested,  sent  to  England 
for  trial  and  hanged. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

COLONIAL  PROSPERITY. — DIFFICULTIES  OCCASIONED  BY  THE 
WAR  WITH  THE  FRENCH. — DOMESTIC  AFFAIRS  OF  THE 
COLONY. 

IF  we  may  judge  the  prosperity  of  the  Colony 
by  the  increase  of  taxation — and  taxes  it  must  be 
remembered  were  self-imposed  —  we  shall  find 
that  Rhode  Island  at  the  beginning  of  the  new 
century  had  made  real  if  not  rapid  progress  in 
all  the  branches  of  national  prosperity.  Her 
population  in  1702  was  estimated  at  ten  thousand, 
exclusive  of  Indians.  She  drew  supplies  from 
foreign  ports  in  bottoms  of  her  own,  and  raised 
the  staples  of  life  on  her  own  farms.  Her  citizens 
were  merchants,  farmers,  fishermen  and  sailors. 
There  was  a  beginning,  also,  of  manufactures — to 
the  sore  displeasure  of  the  Board  of  Trade. 

We  perceive,  also,  by  the  same  test  that  Prov- 
idence had  regained  the  relative  position  which 
she  had  lost  during  Philip's  war,  and  was  once 
more  the  second  town  of  the  Colony. 

The  soul  liberty  of  which  I  have  spoken  so 
often  had  borne  rich  fruits.  Baptists,  Quakers, 
Congregationalists,  Episcopalians.  Puritans  and 
Sabbatarians  had  their  respective  places  of  wor- 
ship and  their  independent  pastors.  Among  the 


HISTOEY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  121 

Baptist  pastors  we  find  John  Clarke.  Among 
the  Congregationalists  Samuel  Niles,  a  native  of 
Block  Island,  and  the  first  Rhode  Islander  that 
graduated  at  Harvard.  In  1704  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts 
sent  out  James  Honeyman  to  build  up  an  Epis- 
copal church  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Colony. 
He  found  much  to  do  as  rector  of  Trinity,  in 
Newport,  and  missionary  to  Freetown,  Tiverton 
and  Little  Compton  on  the  main.  His  memory 
is  still  preserved  in  Episcopal  traditions  and 
Honeyman' s  Hill,  the  highest  land  in  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  island,  is  a  familiar  name  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Newport.  In  1706  an  Episcopal 
society  was  founded  in  Kingston,  with  Rev. 
Christopher  Bridge  for  rector.  So  well  was  the 
work  on  the  church  done,  that  after  remaining 
where  it  was  built  ninety-three  years,  it  was  re- 
moved to  Wickfofd,  where  it  is  still  used  under 
the  name  of  the  Church  of  St.  Paul.  One  of  the 
most  interesting  of  these  denominations  was  that 
of  the  Sabbatarians,  or  Seventh-day  Baptists, 
who  had  also  a  flourishing  church  in  Westerly. 
To  meet  their  peculiar  views  two  weekly  market 
days  were  set  apart  for  them. 

The  meetings  and  acts  of  the  Assembly  still 
continue  to  form  the  principal  record  of  our 
history.  The  Assembly  itself  claimed  equal 
rights  with  those  exercised  by  Parliament  over 
its  own  members,  and  at  a  special  session  in  1701, 
suspended  an  assistant  who  had  married  a  couple 


122  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

illegally  and  refused  to  acknowledge  his  error. 
The  Board  of  Trade  had  more  than  once  called 
for  a  printed  copy  of  the  laws  of  the  Colony, 
and  as  a  proof  that  they  were  regularly  adminis- 
tered Governor  Cranston  sent  a  full  statement  of 
the  mode  of  procedure  in  all  the  courts.  I  have 
already  spoken  of  Lord  Bellemont's  plan  for  the 
formation  of  a  great  vice-royalty  over  all  the 
colonies,  including  the  Bahama  Islands.  After 
his  death  this  wild  scheme,  fatal  to  the  freedom 
and  prosperity  of  British  America,  was  revived 
by  Dudley.  The  irregular  administration  of  the 
navigation  laws  was  the  chief  pretext,  and  it 
probably  was  held  to  be  a  sufficient  concession  to 
freedom  that  the  local  government  was  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  colonial  assemblies.  A  bill  for  this 
purpose  was  drawn  up  near  the  close  of  William' s 
reign  and  brought  forward  early  in  that  of  Anne. 

But  the  rights  of  the  colonies  were  boldly  and 
ably  defended  by  Sir  Henry  Ashurst,  the  agent 
of  Connecticut,  and  the  fatal  bill  rejected  after 
a  full  discussion.  Dudley  himself,  however,  was 
in  high  favor.  He  was  appointed  Governor  and 
Vice- Admiral  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  what  was  still  more  objectionable 
Yice-Admiral  of  Rhode  Island  and  King's  Prov- 
ince, a  fruitful  source  of  jealousies  and  bicker- 
ings. 

Meanwhile  the  Assembly  went  on  in  its  work 
of  legislation,  taking  advantage  of  its  experience 
to  correct  old  errors,  and  gradually  adapting  the 


HISTOEY   OF   KHODE  ISLAND.  123 

laws  to  the  increasing  wants  of  society.  At  the 
May  session  of  1701  we  find  justices  of  the  peace 
first  mentioned  in  connection  with  a  general  elec- 
tion. Thirteen  were  then  appointed.  In  the 
same  session  a  resolution  for  the  reorganization  of 
the  militia  law  was  again  brought  forward  and 
the  law  of  marriage  revised  and  made  more 
stringent.  New  powers  were  given  the  governor 
for  enforcing  the  navigation  act.  Progress  had 
been  made  towards  a  correct  estimate  of  the  obli- 
gations of  society  to  its  officers.  The  governor's 
salary  was  raised  to  forty  pounds — a  sum  much 
increased  during  the  year  by  special  gratuities. 
The  recorder  was  forbidden  to  practice  at  the  bar 
except  in  cases  which  concerned  himself  or  the 
town  or  Colony.  Protection  against  vagrants 
was  sought  in  a  rigid  vagrant  act,  extending  to 
comers  from  other  colonies,  deserters  from  the 
King's  service  and  "passengers  brought  in  by 
sea  and  landed  without  consent  of  the  authorities. ' ' 
The  short  lived  treaty  of  Ryswick  was  broken, 
and  in  the  May  session  of  1702  preparations  were 
made  for  the  defence  of  Newport  harbor  by  build- 
ing a  fort  on  Goat  Island.  In  the  town  itself  a 
battery  was  erected  near  the  ground  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Union  Bank.  The  funds  for  these 
defences  were  to  be  drawn  from  "forfeitures  to 
the  treasury  and  the  gold  plate  and  money  taken 
from  convicted  pirates."  The  pay  of  the  garrison 
at  the  fort  was  fixed  at  twelve  pounds  a  year, 
with  rations.  Scouts,  that  essential  element  of 


124  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

every  good  army,  but  especially  necessary  where 
the  enemy  were  part  Indians,  received  three  shil- 
lings a  day  \vhile  in  active  service.  The  spirit 
of  adventure  was  awakened.  Captain  William 
Wanton,  of  Portsmouth,  took  out  a  commission 
as  privateersman  and  brought  in  several  valuable 
prizes. 

In  September  Dudley  undertook  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  Rhode  Island  troops — about  two 
thousand  men  in  all,  and  coming  to  Newport 
directed  that  they  should  be  called  out  in  his 
name.  The  calm  but  firm  resistance  of  Governor 
Cranston  and  Major  Martindale  thwarted  his 
usurpation,  and  he  left  the  town  in  disgust. 

In  1703  the  long  boundary  line  contest  between 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  was  brought  to  a 
close,  and  Rhode  Island  confirmed  in  the  juris- 
diction over  Narragansett  which  had  been  assigned 
to  her  in  the  arbitration  of  Clarke  and  Winthrop. 
Much  of  this  was  owing  to  the  staunch  loyalty 
of  the  men  of  Westerly,  where  its  good  effects 
were  immediately  felt.  Yet  so  little  were  the 
true  interests  of  the  colonies  understood  by  their 
transatlantic  rulers,  that  it  was  not  till  twenty- 
three  years  later  that  the  decision  of  the  Commis- 
sioners was  formally  approved  by  the  King. 

This  failure  to  comprehend  the  character  and 
interest  of  the  colonies  showed  itself  in  various 
ways,  but  in  none  more  offensively  than  in  the 
attempt  of  the  Board  of  Trade  to  make  Dudley 
Governor  of  Rhode  Island  by  royal  appointment. 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  125 

But  fortunately  for  Rhode  Island,  the  powerful 
William  Penn  had  been  enlisted  on  her  side,  and 
the  Queen's  Council  refused  to  accept  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Board  of  Trade. 

Another  question  which  menaced  serious  dan- 
ger to  the  Colony  by  placing  it  in  a  false  position 
towards  the  mother  country  arose  from  the  war. 
How  far  was  she  bound  to  send  troops  to  the 
support  of  her  sister  colonies  ?  Dudley  claimed 
them  for  the  defence  of  the  Massachusetts  fron- 
tier, Lord  Cornberry  for  that  of  New  York. 
Rhode  Island  pointed  to  her  long  water  front, 
broken  by  bays  and  coves  and  constantly  exposed 
to  the  fleets  and  privateers  of  the  enemy,  and 
claimed  that  she  needed  her  men  for  her  own 
protection.  As  a  proof,  however,  of  her  willing- 
ness to  do  all  that  could  justly  be  asked  of  her, 
she  appealed  to  her  past  conduct  and  to  the  fact 
that  during  the  last  seven  years  she  had  spent 
nearly  a  thousand  pounds  a  year  for  military 
purposes. 

The  war  bore  hardly  upon  the  resources  of  the 
Colony.  A  French  fleet  was  expected  on  the 
coast.  Scouts  were  constantly  on  the  look-out. 
Block  Island  was  garrisoned.  The  fleet  did  not 
come,  but  one  incident  occurred  which,  though 
upon  a  small  scale,  brought  out  in  strong  colors 
the  maritime  spirit  of  the  Colony.  A  French 
privateer  in  a  cruise  off  Block  Island  took  a 
sloop  laden  with  provisions.  The  news  reached 
the  Governor  the  next  dav.  In  two  hours  two 


126  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

sloops,  manned  by  one  hundred  and  twenty 
volunteers,  and  commanded  by  Captain  John 
Wanton,  were  on  their  way  in  pursuit  of  the 
enemy,  and  in  less  than  three  hours  more  took 
her,  recaptured  her  prize  and  brought  both  safe 
into  Newport. 

The  current  of  our  history  still  continues  to  flow 
in  a  narrow  channel.  Each  new  session  of  the 
Assembly  added  to  the  body  of  the  laws  and  met 
new  wants.  Newport  had  no  charter.  One  was 
granted  her  by  special  statute.  The  other  towns 
held  theirs  by  grants  of  the  Assembly.  The  sub- 
ject of  a  court  of  chancery  began  to  attract  atten- 
tion in  1705,  but  was  held  to  be  premature,  and 
its  duties  were  still  left  for  the  present  with  the 
Assembly. 

Boundary  questions  still  continued  to  occupy 
the  Assembly  and  annoy  the  inhabitants  of  the 
border.  The  northern  boundary  brought  Rhode 
Island  into  direct  collision  with  Massachusetts. 
which  was  now  the  heiress  of  the  claims  of 
Plymouth.  Commissioners  were  appointed  who 
made  no  report,  and  it  was  only  by  slow  steps 
that  the  Colony  assumed  its  permanent  form  and 
dimensions. 

Among  the  laws  which  were  brought  every  day 
to  every  door  was  the  law  which  made  the  price 
of  wheat  the  standard  of  the  price  of  bread. 
Every  baker  was  required  to  have  his  trade  mark 
and  make  every  loaf  of  a  specified  weight.  The 
bread  that  fell  short  was  forfeited  to  the  poor. 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  127 

As  an  aid  to  commerce  the  Colony  granted  the 
control  of  the  shores  of  all  the  waters  comprised 
within  a  township  to  the  town  itself.  This  led  to 
the  building  of  wharves  and  store  houses,  and 
added  to  the  wealth  of  the  town. 

In  the  midst  of  the  progressing  civilization  we 
find  occasional  traces  of  barbarism.  A  slave  had 
murdered  his  mistress  with  circumstances  which 
aggravated  the  crime,  and  despairing  of  escape 
drowned  himself.  A  fortnight  after  his  body 
came  ashore  at  Little  Compton,  and  "the  Assem- 
bly ordered  that  his  head,  legs  and  arms  should  be 
hung  up  in  some  public  place  near  Newport,  and 
his  body  be  burnt  to  ashes." 

We  now  meet  the  odious  slave-trade,  carefully 
watched  over  and  protected  by  England  as  a 
source  of  wealth,  but  generally  disliked  by 
planters  for  "the  turbulent  and  unruly  tem- 
pers" of  its  miserable  victims.  Rhode  Island 
drew  most  of  her  slaves  from  Barbadoes  at  the  rate 
of  twenty  or  thirty  a  year,  and  sold  them  at  the 
average  price  of  from  thirty  to  forty  pounds  each. 
The  moral  question  had  not  yet  come  up,  but 
according  to  the  old  record  the  trade  did  not 
flourish  because  the  people  "in  general"  pre- 
i'erred  white  servants  to  black. 

In  1708  the  first  census  was  taken  by  order  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  giving  for  result  seven  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  eighty-one  inhabitants,  of 
whom  one  thousand  and  fifteen  were  freemen. 
The  militia  amounted  to  one  thousand  three 


128  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

hundred  and  sixty-two.  There  were  fifty-six 
white  servants  and  four  hundred  and  twenty-six 
black. 

In  the  same  year  we  meet  for  the  first  time, 
"vendue  masters"  and  public  auctions.  The 
subject  of  "  a  uniform  value  for  foreign  coins  in 
the  colonies"  was  discussed  in  Parliament,  and 
made  the  subject  of  a  circular  letter  from  the 
Board  of  Trade.  The  increase  of  the  settlements 
made  it  necessary  to  provide  for  the  Indians.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  confer  with  Ninigret 
about  lands  for  his  tribe,  the  Niantics,  and 
choose  the  site  of  a  new  town  in  Narragansett. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  judicial  functions 
of  the  Assembly.  They  had  increased  so  much 
that  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  impose  a  tax  of 
two  pounds  upon  every  appellant  before  his  case 
could  be  taken  up. 

The  reports  to  the  Board  of  Trade  and  the  com- 
mutation table  of  taxation  throw  much  light 
upon  the  commercial  and  agricultural  progress  of 
the  Colony.  In  the  commutation  roll  Indian  coin 
was  rated  at  "two  shillings  a  bushel,  barley  at  one 
and  eightpence,  rye  at  two  and  sixpence,  oats  at 
fourteen  pence,  wheat  at  three  shillings,  and  wool 
at  ninepence  a  pound."  From  the  statistical  re- 
ports to  the  Board  of  Trade,  we  learn  that  the 
annual  "exports  sent  to  England  by  way  of  Bos- 
ton amounted  to  twenty  thousand  pounds  ;  that 
the  principal  direct  trade  was  by  the  West  Indies  ; 
and  that  within  the  past  twenty  years  the  amount 


HISTORY   OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  129 

of  shipping  had  increased  six-fold."  This  in- 
crease it  was  said  was  owing  to  the  superiority 
of  the  colonial  shipwrights. 

Eighty-four  vessels  of  all  sizes  had  been  built 
in  the  Colony  within  eleven  years.  The  popula- 
tion was  divided.  Aquidneck  "was  taken  up  in 
small  farms,"  and  the  young  men  took  to  the  sea. 

In  1709  a  printing  press  was  set  up  in  Newport 
and  a  public  printer  appointed.  This  pi'oneer 
printer  was  the  son  of  a  New  York  printer  named 
Bradford,  who  offered  to  do  the  public  printing 
of  the  Colony  for  fifty  pounds  a  year.  The  offer 
was  accepted  for  one  year. 

The  war  dragged  heavily  on,  eating  into  the 
resources  of  the  Colony  and  driving  her  to  that 
most  fatal  of  all  expedients,  the  issue  of  paper 
money.  A  great  expedition  against  Canada  was 
planned,  and  failed.  Rhode  Island,  which  had 
been  very  active  in  raising  men  and  supplies  and 
had  taxed  herself  liberally,  shared  the  common 
disappointment. 

The  next  attempt  was  more  successful.  A  fleet 
of  twelve  ships  of  war  and  twenty -four  transports 
sailed  from  Nantasket  roads  on  the  18th  of  Sep- 
tember, reached  Port  Royal  in  six  days  and  took 
it  after  a  short  siege.  The  colonists  were  very 
happy.  The  name  of  Port  Royal  was  changed 
to  Annapolis,  the  city  of  Anna.  The  martial 
spirit  of  the  colonies  was  roused  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year.  1711,  they  eagerly  entered  into  the  plans 
of  the  English  ministry  for  the  invasion  of  Can- 
9 


130  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

ada.     But  although  the  greatest  exertions  were 
made  the  expedition  failed. 

Meanwhile  the  Assembly  still  continued  its 
labor  of  legislation.  The  Court  of  Trials  adopted 
the  course  which  had  been  established  two  years 
before  by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  began  to 
charge  a  fee  before  entering  a  case  upon  the 
docket.  Education  was  a  subject  of  legislative 
interest.  In  Newport  the  public  school  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  town  council,  and  pro- 
vision made  for  opening  a  Latin  school  under  Mr. 
Galloway.  Various  other  minor  incidents  show 
the  progress  of  the  Colony.  Public  highways 
were  a  subject  of  general  attention  in  Newport. 
Providence,  which  lay  on  the  bank  of  a  naviga- 
ble river,  was  more  directly  interested  in  bridges. 
Names  were  given  to  the  streets  and  alleys,  and, 
as  an  element  in  the  growth  of  the  Colony,  it 
may  not  be  uninteresting  to  know  that  the  first 
town  crier  was  appointed  in  1711.  As  an  en- 
couragement to  commerce  all  ' '  river  craft  trading 
as  far  as  Connecticut"  were  exempted  from 
custom  dues,  and  no  fees  were  exacted  for  free 
goods.  The  profits  of  the  navigation  act,  as  has 
already  been  stated,  had  been  seriously  affected 
by  clandestine  traders.  To  guard  against  this 
evil  a  law  was  passed  requiring  "all  persons  res- 
ident for  three  months  in  the  Colony  and  intend- 
ing to  leave,  to  advertise  their  intention  ten  days 
before  hand,  so  that  their  creditors  might  have 
due  notice." 


OHAPTEE   XVII. 

PAPER  MONEY  TROUBLES.— ESTABLISHMENT  OF  BANKS. — PRO- 
TECTION OF  HOME  INDUSTRIES. — PROPERTY  QUALIFICA- 
TIONS FOR  SUFFRAGE. 

THE  treaty  of  Utrecht  gave  peace  to  England 
and  her  dependencies,  leaving  them  free  to  follow 
out  the  peaceful  development  of  commerce  and 
manufactures.  War  had  brought  on  paper  money, 
which  was  first  issued  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
second  expedition  against  Port  Royal.  This  first 
issue  was  of  five  thousand  pounds  in  bills  of  from 
five  pounds  to  two  shillings,  equal  in  value  as 
far  as  legislation  could  make  them  so,  "to  cur- 
rent silver  of  New  England,  eight  shillings  to  the 
ounce.  They  were  to  be  received  in  all  payments 
due  the  treasury,  to  be  redeemed  in  specie  at  the 
end  of  five  years,"  and  meanwhile  were  secured 
by  an  "annual  tax  of  a  thousand  pounds."  To 
counterfeit  or  deface  them  was  felony.  Further 
issues  of  eight  thousand  pounds  were  made  by  the 
end  of  the  war,  and  secured  by  new  taxes.  Thus 
was  opened  the  great  gulf  which  was  to  swallow 
the  fruits  of  much  laborious  industry. 

The  Assembly  made  another  step  towards  its 
present  form  by  electing  a  clerk  outside  the 
house.  The  pay  of  this  first  clerk  was  six  shil- 
lings a  day. 


132  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

The  military  stores  which  had  been  collected 
during  the  war  were  divided  into  two  classes. 
Those  of  a  perishable  nature  were  sold.  The  rest 
were  carefully  stored  away  to  be  ready  for  the 
chances  of  another  war.  ""The  cannon  were 
tarred  and  laid  on  logs  on  the  governor's  wharf.'* 
The  garrison  of  Fort  Anne  was  dismissed.  The 
labors  of  peace  began.  Increased  attention  was 
given  to  public  highways.  The  old  road  which 
ran  through  the  Colony  from  Pawtucket  to  Paw- 
catuck  was  repaired,  and  a  new  one  opened  to 
Plainfield  through  Warwick  and  West  Green- 
wich. But  in  this  the  enterprise  of  the  Colony 
outran  its  wants,  and  the  new  road  was  soon 
abandoned. 

As  we  follow  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  we 
find  acts  for  the  repression  of  litigation  renewed 
three  times  in  five  years.  The  provision  of  the 
charter  by  which  commissioned  militia  offie<  TS 
were  to  be  elected  by  the  Assembly  had  been 
neglected  for  more  than  a  generation,  and  the  elec- 
tions made  by  the  towns.  While  the  population 
was  small  and  most  of  the  inhabitants  freemen 
this  mode  of  election  proved  good.  But  with  the 
increase  of  population  disputes  and  difficulties 
arose,  and  in  1713  a  new  law  was  passed  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  the  charter.  But 
after  a  short  trial  and  in  spite  of  the  protest  of 
the  governor  and  four  assistants,  the  old  law  was 
revised. 

One   of   the   difficult  questions   of   legislation 


HISTORY   OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  133 

came  before  the  Assembly  of  1713.  Merchants 
had  /  exported  grain  too  freely  and  the  home 
market  began  to  feel  the  drain.  The  Assembly 
interfered,  and  not  only  forbade  further  exporta- 
tion but  set  a  tariff  of  prices  for  the  markets  of 
the  Colony.  An  account  of  the  stock  of  pro- 
visions in  Newport  was  taken.  The  price  of 
wheat  was  ten  shillings  and  sixpence  a  bushel, 
of  rye  five  shillings,  of  corn  and  barley  four  shil- 
lings, and  of  flour  and  biscuit  thirty  shillings  a 
hundred. 

Among  the  laws  of  trade  which  were  passed  at 
this  time  was  a  stringent  law  against  peddlers,  pro- 
hibiting them  from  selling  dry  goods  under  heavy 
penalties.  But  the  apple  of  discord  which  divided 
the  whole  community  was  paper  money.  All 
New  England  was  disturbed  by  it.  In  Massachu- 
setts there  were  three  parties,  each  very  bitter 
against  the  other.  Smallest  of  the  three  was  the 
hard  money  party,  which  insisted  upon  with- 
drawing the  bills  of  credit  and  putting  all  busi- 
ness transactions  upon  a  metallic  basis.  The 
other  two  were  in  favor  of  banks,  but  of  banks 
founded  upon  very  different  principles.  One 
advocating  a  private,  the  other  a  public  bank 
system.  By  the  former  bills  of  credit  secured 
upon  real  estate  were  to  be  issued  by  the  com- 
pany and  received  by  its  members  as  money,  but 
without  any  fixed  relation  to  gold  and  silver. 
The  other  advocated  a  public  bank,  with  bills  to 
be  loaned  by  government  on  mortgage  of  real 


134  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

estate  and  paying  an  annual  interest  for  the 
support  of  government.  Each  party  represented 
a  distinct  class.  The  hard  money  part}'  was  com- 
posed of  men  for  the  most  part  free  from  debt 
and  ready  to  pay  their  way  in  cash.  The  private 
bank  party  were  owners  of  real  estate  who  were 
unable  to  use  it  to  advantage  for  meeting  their 
engagements.  The  hard  money  party  after  a 
severe  struggle  coalesced  with  these,  and  a  "bank 
or  loan  of  fifty  thousand  pounds"  was  estab- 
lished for  five  years. 

In  Rhode  Island  there  were  but  two  parties— 
the  hard  money  party  and  the  paper  money 
party.  The  struggle  was  long  and  bitter,  and 
ended  by  the  adoption  of  the  public  bank  system 
of  Massachusetts.  The  contest  was  felt  in  the 
elections,  each  party  striving  to  secure  an  Assem- 
bly favorable  to  itself.  In  the  May  election  of 
1714  "the  specie  party  triumphed."  Twenty- 
two  deputies  out  of  twenty-eight  lost  their  seats. 
An  act  had  been  passed  requiring  the  treasurer 
to  burn  two  thousand  bills  of  credit.  He  diso- 
beyed and  lost  his  place.  Bills  to  the  amount  of 
one  thousand  one  hundred  and  two  pounds  eight 
shillings  and  sixpence  were  collected  and  burnt. 

In  the  new  election  the  paper  money  question 
still  agitated  the  public  mind.  Only  five  out  of 
the  old  members  were  returned  to  the  Assembly. 
Of  the  assistants  only  one.  Joseph  Jenckes  was 
chosen  Deputy-Governor  in  the  place  of  Henry 
Tew.  So  complete  was  the  change  that  it  was 


HISTOEY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  135 

called  "the  great  revolution."  Yet  amid  all 
these  changes  Governor  Cranston  held  his  place. 

The  death  of  Queen  Anne  and  accession  of 
George  I.  excited  little  attention  in  the  colonies. 
South  Carolina  was  suffering  from  the  Yemassee 
war,  which  brought  new  emigrants  to  Rhode 
Island,  and  among  them  some  females  of  Hugue- 
not origin  who  had  their  Indian  slaves  with 
them.  Their  coming  seems  to  have  been  accept- 
able, for  the  Assembly  upon  petition  remitted 
to  them  the  importation  tax.  The  population 
was  not  yet  sufficient  to  protect  farmers  from 
wolves  and  foxes.  The  old  bounty  was  increased, 
and  rewards  were  offered  by  Portsmouth  for 
blackbirds  and  crows,  and  by  Providence  for 
gray  squirrels  and  rats.  A  few  years  later  still 
higher  bounties  were  offered  for  wild-cats  and 
bears. 

The  great  public  question  was  still  the  ques- 
tion of  the  bank,  and  we  have  already  seen  that 
the  form  adopted  was  that  of  public  banks.  In 
the  July  session  of  1715  a  bank  or  loan  of  thirty 
thousand  pounds  was  established,  which  in  a 
later  session  was  raised  to  forty  thousand.  ; '  Bills 
from  five  pounds  to  one  shilling  were  issued  and 
proportioned  among  the  towns."  Whoever  could 
give  good  mortgage  security  could  claim  a  loan. 
But  the  interest  instead  of  being  secured  by 
bond  and  mortgage  was  secured  by  bond  alone, 
and  thus  the  greater  part  of  it  was  eventually 
lost,  a  very  serious  defect  in  the  system,  for  it 


136  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

was  from  this  interest  that  the  bills  were  to  be 
redeemed  and  the  expenses  of  government  paid. 
We  shall  meet  this  subject  again,  but  never  in  a 
pleasant  form. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  by  what  devices  the  in- 
creasing wants  of  the  Colony  was  met.  Newport 
had  wants  of  her  own  as  "the  metropolitan  town 
of  the  Colony."  The  street  leading  to  the  Colony 
House  needed  paving,  and  to  meet  the  expenses 
a  grant  was  made  of  funds  drawn  from  the  duty 
on  imported  slaves.  Other  streets  were  paved 
and  a  bridge  built  over  Potowomut  River  by  funds 
drawn  from  the  same  source. 

The  criminal  code  also,  grows  with  the  Colony. 
Fraudulent  voting  is  punished  with  fine,  whipping 
or  imprisonment.  To  facilitate  detection  every 
voter  was  required  to  endorse  his  name  in  full  on 
his  ballot.  A  large  proportion  of  the  crimes  in 
the  Colony  were  committed  by  Indian  slaves. 
The  fear  of  punishment  was  an  insufficient  pro- 
tection against  this  class  of  criminals,  and  a  law 
was  passed  prohibiting  their  introduction  into 
the  Colony. 

We  have  seen  that  Newport  and  Providence 
made  early  provision  for  schools.  Portsmouth 
followed  their  example,  and  "having  considered 
how  excellent  an  ornament  learning  is  to  man- 
kind," made  in  1716  an  appropriation  for  build- 
ing a  school- house.  The  experiment  was  suc- 
cessful, and  six  years  later  two  others  were  built— 
one  of  them  sixteen  feet  square,  the  other  thirty 
by  twenty-five. 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  137 

i 

It  is  deserving  of  remark  that  in  this  young 
society  slander  was  not  suffered  to  go  unpun- 
ished. A  Gabriel  Bernon  had  brought  a  false 
accusation  against  one  of  the  assistants.  He  was 
-compelled  to  make  "  a  written  acknowledgment 
to  the  injured  party,"  and  ask  pardon  in  writ- 
ing of  the  Assembly  which  he  had  treated  with 
disrespect  on  his  examination. 

The  condition  of  the  Indians  called  for  legisla- 
tive interference.  On  the  petition  of  Ninigret 
their  lands  were  taken  under  the  protection  of  the 
•Colony,  and  overseers  appointed  to  lease  them 
for  the  benefit  of  the  tribe  and  remove  trespassers. 
The  following  year  an  attempt  was  made  to 
enforce  temperance  among  them  by  increasing 
the  difficulty  of  their  obtaining  liquor  on  credit. 

The  militia  law7  was  revised  from  time  to  time 
and  various  changes  introduced.  In  that  of  1718 
the  governor  was  styled  "Captain-General  and 
Commander-in- Chief,"  and  the  deputy-governor 
"  Lieutenant-General." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  colonial  laws  were 
required  to  conform  as  far  as  possible  to  English 
laws.  The  colonial  legislatures  put  a  large  inter- 
pretation upon  this  provision,  and  in  providing 
for  the  estates  of  intestates  modified  materially 
the  law  of  primogeniture.  The  eldest  son,  in- 
stead of  the  whole  estate,  received  only  a  double 
share — one-third  being  given  to  the  widow  and 
the  remainder  divided  among  the  children. 

The  Board  of  Trade  had  repeatedly  called  for 


138  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

a  complete  copy  of  the  laws,  and  the  Assembly 
had  appointed  more  than  one  committee  to  revise 
and  print  them.  It  was  not,  however,  till  1710 
that  the  work  was  taken  seriously  in  hand.  That 
it  should  have  been  printed  in  Boston  shows  how 
old  prejudices  were  passing  away.  This  first 
edition  was  distributed  among  the  towns  and  the 
Assembly. 

Boundary  questions  revive  from  time  to  time. 
The  northern  boundary  gave  rise  to  bitter  discus- 
sions, and  though  often  on  the  point  of  being 
decided,  was  not  really  brought  to  a  decision  for 
several  years.  The  western  boundary,  also,  had 
been  practically  decided  in  favor  of  Rhode  Island. 
But  this  question,  too,  was  reopened,  and  the 
uncertainties  and  inconveniences  which  such  dis- 
putes engender  idly  prolonged  to  the  sore  annoy- 
ance of  the  inhabitants  of  the  border.  How  im- 
perfectly the  serious  nature  of  the  question  was 
understood  in  England  maybe  seen  03-  the  propo- 
sition of  the  Privy  Council  that  both  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut  should  surrender  their 
charters  and  be  annexed  to  New  Hampshire.  It 
was  not  till  17-27  that  Westerly  knew  whether  she 
belonged  to  Connecticut  or  to  Rhode  Island. 

Protection  begins  about  this  time  to  manifest 
itself  as  essential  to  the  success  of  domestic  in- 
dustry. Acts  also  were  passed  for  the  protec- 
tion of  river  fisheries.  The  manufacture  of  nails 
and  hemp  duck  were  encouraged — nails  by  a  loan 
and  duck  by  a  bounty.  With  the  increase  of  pop- 


HISTOKY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  139 

ulation  new  guarantees  were  required  to  secure 
purity  of  suffrage.  In  the  winter  of  1724  the  free- 
hold act  was  passed  "requiring  a  freehold  qual- 
ification of  the  value  of  one  hundred  pounds,  or 
an  annual  income  of  two  pounds  derived  from 
real  estate  to  enable  any  man  to  become  a  free- 
man." With  modification  of  detail  but  none  of 
principle,  this  law  held  its  place  on  the  statute 
book  for  a  hundred  and  twenty  years.  ' '  Freemen 
of  the  towns  who  were  not  freemen  of  the  Colony 
were  allowed  to  vote  for  deputies." 

In  1721  a  new  bank  or  loan  for  forty  thousand 
pounds  was  established  upon  the  same  principle 
as  the  first.  Hemp  and  flax  were  received  in 
payment  of  interest.  Specie  had  become  so 
scarce  that  an  English  half -penny  passed  for 
three  half-pence,  and  it  was  soon  manifest  that 
the  introduction  of  paper  money  had  raised  prices 
and  encouraged  speculation  in  land. 

But  nothing  occurred  to  break  the  monotony 
of  colonial  life  so  important  as  the  capture  in 
1723  of  a  pirate  schooner  and  the  trial  of  her 
crew  by  a  court  of  admiralty.  Twenty-six  of  the 
prisoners  were  condemned  to  death,  hanged  at 
Gravelly  or  Bull's  Point,  and  buried  on  Goat 
Island  between  high  and  low  water  mark. 

One  of  the  important  events  of  1722-3,  and 
which  must  be  considered  as  a  favorable  indica- 
tion of  the  increase  of  population  was  the 
division  of  Kingston  into  two  towns.  In  1724 
the  failure  of  the  crops  led  again  to  the  prohibi- 


140  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

tion  of  the  exportation  of  grain.  Two  thousand 
bushels  of  Indian  corn  were  bought  on  public 
account  and  sold  to  the  people  at  low  prices.  In 
Newport  no  one  was  allowed  to  have  more  than 
four  bushels  at  a  time — in  the  other  towns  not 
more  than  eight.  The  temperance  question,  also, 
began  to  attract  attention  at  an  early  day,  and 
various  efforts  were  made  to  check  drunkenness. 
Among  them  was  an  act  prohibiting  the  selling 
of  liquor  to  common  drunkards,  and  to  ensure  the 
carrying  out  of  the  act  town  councils  were  required 
to  post  in  their  own  and  the  neighboring  towns 
those  who  came  under  it.  In  nothing,  however, 
was  the  progress  of  the  Colony  more  evident  than 
in  the  growth  of  the  religious  sentiments.  The 
soul  liberty  of  its  founder  had  been  mistaken 
for  license.  Towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century  Cotton  Mather  had  written:  "Rhode 
Island  is  a  colluvies  of  Antinomians,  Familists, 
Anabaptists,  Anti-Sabbatarians,  Arminians,  So- 
cinians,  Quakers,  Ranters,  everything  in  the 
world  but  Roman  Catholics  and  true  Christians." 
A  quarter  of  a  century  later  he  wrote  :  "  Calvin- 
ists  with  Lutherans,  Presbyterians  with  Episco- 
palians, Pedobaptists  with  Anabaptists,  behold- 
ing one  another  to  fear  God  and  work  righteous- 
ness, do  with  delight  sit  down  together  at  the 
same  table  of  the  Lord.''  In  strict  accordance 
with  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Colony 
the  pay  of  the  clergy  was  made  by  voluntary 
contribution  of  their  parishioners. 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  141 

We  have  recorded  the  deaths  of  Williams  and 
Clarke.  In  April,  1727,  Governor  Samuel  Crans- 
ton followed  them  to  the  grave,  leaving  no  public 
man  so  universally  loved  behind. 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  progress  of  the  Colony  that 
vagrants  and  "  mad  persons  "  began  to  be  pro- 
vided for  by  law.  Among  the  laws  adopted  from 
England  at  this  period  was  the  act  of  limitations 
for  personal  actions. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

CHANGE  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE. — ACTS  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY. — 
JOHN  BERKELY'S  RESIDENCE  IN  NEWPORT. — FRIENDLY  FEEL- 
ING BETWEEN  THE  COLONISTS  AND  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY. 

NEARLY  a  generation  had  passed  since  a  new 
governor  had  been  chosen,  but  the  place  made 
vacant  by  death  was  now  to  be  filled.  The  choice 
fell  upon  Joseph  Jenckes,  (May,  1727.)  He  was 
a  resident  of  Paw  tucket,  and  in  those  days  of 
irregular  communication  Pawtucket  was  too  far 
from  the  seat  of  government  for  the  prompt  trans- 
action of  public  business.  It  was  voted,  there- 
fore, that  it  was  "highly  necessary  for  the  Gov- 
ernor of  this  Colony  to  live  at  Newport,  the 
metropolis  of  the  government,"  and  a  hundred 
pounds  was  appropriated  for  the  expense  of  his 
removal.  While  the  Colony  was  passing  into  the 
hands  of  a  new  executive  a  similar  change  was 
taking  place  in  the  mother  country.  George  I. 
died  suddenly,  and  George  II.  succeeded  to  the 
throne. 

But  the  change  of  sovereign  brought  no  change 
with  it  in  the  policy  of  the  mother  country.  The 
act  of  navigation  was  still  the  rule  by  which  she 
measured  her  relations  to  the  colonies.  They 
were  still  to  supply  the  raw  material  and  she  the 
profitable  manufacture. 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  143 

The  first  eight  years  of  George  II.'  s  reign  were 
years  of  peace.  Party  spirit  in  England  ran  high 
under  the  names  of  court  and  country,  the  first 
as  supporters  of  the  ministry,  the  second  of  par- 
liamentary opposition.  But  Sir  Robert  Walpole 
did  not  love  war,  and  in  the  cabinet  his  voice  was 
supreme. 

In  the  Colony  we  find  the  same  indications  of 
growth  and  development.  The  records  of  the 
Assembly  are  still  our  principal  guide.  The 
criminal  code,  the  surest  indication  of  the  moral 
condition  of  the  community,  was  revised.  Intem- 
perance, in  spite  of  repeated  attempts  to  suppress 
it  by  legislation  still  seems  to  prevail,  and  in 
1728  a  new  license  law  was  passed.  Unforeseen 
crimes,  also,  sometimes  call  for  special  action. 
An  Indian  lad  attempted  to  kill  his  master,  a 
crime  unforeseen  in  the  code,  and  was  branded  on 
the  forehead  with  the  letter  R.,  whipped  at  the 
cart  tail  at  every  street  corner  in  Newport,  and 
ordered  to  be  sold  out  of  the  Colony  for  his  un- 
expired  term.  A  slanderous  pamphlet  was  pub- 
licly burned  by  the  town  sergeant  in  front  of  the 
Colony  House  and  the  author  compelled  to  make 
a  written  confession  of  his  fault. 

The  unsettled  boundary  lines  though  still 
causes  of  uneasiness  and  vexatious  delays,  are 
gradually  approaching  final  decision.  The  con- 
troversy concerning  the  western  boundary  had 
lasted  sixty-five  years.  More  effectual  means  are 
employed  to  enforce  the  registry  of  births,  mar- 


144  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

riages  and  deaths.  Peddlers,  the  field  of  whose 
industry  had  already  been  reduced  by  previous 
statutes,  were  forbidden  to  sell  any  kind  of  goods 
under  pain  of  forfeiture.  Early  attention  is  paid 
to  the  preservation  of  deer  and  the  protection  of 
fish.  The  planting  of  hemp  and  liax.  and  the 
manufacture  of  duck  are  again  the  subject  of 
legislation,  and  receive  increased  bounties.  James 
Franklin  sets  up  a  printing  press  in  Xewport 
after  having  failed  to  establish  a  newspaper  in 
Boston.  Not  discouraged  by  his  failure,  he  made 
a  similar  attempt  at  Xewport  with  a  similar 
result.  He  was  in  advance  of  his  time.  Impor- 
tant laws  were  enacted  for  the  encouragement 
and  regulation  of  trade.  Special  officers  were 
appointed  for  special  departments.  Lumber  of 
every  kind  was  placed  under  the  protection  of 
surveyors.  Packed  meats  and  fish  were  ex- 
amined by  viewers.  Casks  were  measured  by 
officiaj  surveyors.  The  whale  and  cod  fisheries 
were  encouraged  by  bounties.  And  to  incite  the 
efforts  of  honest  but  unfortunate  men,  bankrupt 
laws  equally  useful  to  creditor  and  debtor  were 
established. 

Roads  and  bridges  continue  to  call  for  legisla- 
tion. The  Pawtuxet  bridge  had  fallen  to  decay, 
and  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  united.  nr<t 
in  pulling  it  down  and  soon  after  in  building  it 
up  again.  A  new  ferry  was  established  between 
Portsmouth  and  Bristol.  Lauds  in  \\Vsr^rly 
were  set  apart  for  an  Indian  house  of  worship. 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  145 

The  fortifications  of  the  Colony  were  not  neg- 
lected. "A  regular  and  beautiful  fortification  of 
stone"  was  built  at  Newport  and  the  new  King 
petitioned  to  give  forty  cannon  for  its  armament. 

The  records  of  the  time  tell  of  an  earthquake 
which  in  October,  1727,  was  felt  through  New 
England,  exciting  much  alarm  but  doing  little 
damage — far  less  indeed  than  the  attempt  to 
build  up  commerce  upon  public  loans  and  paper 
money.  To  this  period  also  belongs  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  the  Palatine  Light,  a  curious  electric 
phenomenon  according  to  some,  produced  ac- 
cording to  others  by  hydrogeneous  gas,  but 
believed  by  local  superstition  to  be  the  phantom 
of  a  wrecked  emigrant  ship  whose  passengers 
had  fallen  prey  to  the  avarice  of  her  captain  and 
crew. 

The  Legislature  continues  its  labor  of  law-mak- 
ing, and  among  its  provisions  is  one  prohibiting 
the  manumission  of  slaves  without  bonds  from 
the  owner  to  prevent  them  from  coming  upon  the 
town.  Another  act  sets  bounds  to  the  authority 
of  moderators  in  town  meetings,  and  requires 
that  any  motion  supported  by  seven  freeholders 
shall  be  put  to  vote.  Another  requires  that  all 
money  questions  shall  be  announced  in  the  call 
for  the  meeting. 

Among  public  annoyances  we  find  Indian 
dances  especially  mentioned  and  the  regulation 
of  them  referred  to  the  town  councils,  and  the 
selling  or  giving  of  intoxicating  drinks  upon  the 

dancing  ground  strictly  forbidden. 
10 


146  HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

To  meet  the  growth  of  the  Colony  a  new  divi- 
sion of  it  into  three  counties  was  made,  and  the 
judicial  system  altered  to  meet  the  change. 
"Each  county  was  to  have  its  court  house  and 
jail."  The  responsibility  of  public  officers  in- 
creases with  the  increase  of  the  Colony  in  wealth. 
The  public  treasurer  was  required  to  give  bonds 
to  the  amount  of  twenty  thousand  pounds  and 
his  salary  raised  first  to  one,  and  two  years  later 
to  two  hundred  pounds.  A  distrust  of  lawyers 
found  expression  in  the  October  session  of  1729 
in  an  act  forbidding  them  to  serve  as  deputies. 
At  the  next  session  it  was  repealed  and  though 
never  reenacted  was  more  than  once  brought  up 
for  discussion. 

Among  the  eminent  Englishmen  of  the  first 
half  of  this  century  was  George  Berkeley,  Dean 
of  Deny,  better  known  by  his  later  title  of 
Bishop  of  Cloyne,  and  still  better  by  Pope's  line  : 

"To  Berkeley  every  virtue  under  Heaven." 

He  had  taken  high  rank  among  the  philoso- 
phers of  his  age  by  his  new  theory  of  vision  and 
other  writings  in  which  he  denied  the  existence 
of  matter.  Advancement  in  the  church  made 
him  master  of  a  large  income,  which  he  resolved 
to  employ  in  the  service  of  religion  by  founding 
a  college  in  the  Bermudas  for  the  training  of 
pastors  for  the  colonial  churches  and  missionaries 
to  the  Indians.  The  benevolent  object  failed 
through  the  failure  of  Lord  Carteret  to  give  him 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  147 

the  aid  of  government.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
establishing  himself  in  Bermuda,  he  purchased  a 
farm  near  Newport  and  built  a  house  on  it,  which 
is  still  known  by  the  name  of  Whitehall.  He 
brought  with  him  a  choice  library,  a  collection  of 
pictures  and  a  corps  of  literary  men  and  artists, 
among  them  the  painter  Smibert,  who  thus  be- 
came the  teacher  of  Copley  and  West. 

The  influence  of  such  a  man  is  quickly  felt  in 
a  young  community,  and  Berkeley  soon  gathered 
around  him  a  body  of  cultivated  men,  who  joined 
with  him  in  the  discussion  of  questions  of  philos- 
ophy and  the  collection  of  books.  These  books 
became  the  basis  of  the  Redwood  Library.  Not 
far  from  his  house  among  what  the  modern 
tourist  knows  as  the  hanging  rocks  is  a  natural 
alcove,  which  opening  to  the  south  and  roofed 
with  stone  commands  an  extensive  view  of  the 
ocean.  Here,  tradition  says,  Berkeley  wrote  his 
Alciphron  or  Minute  Philosopher,  which  was 
printed  in  Newport  by  James  Franklin.  But 
Berkeley  had  lived  too  long  among  men  of  letters 
and  in  large  cities  to  be  contented  with  the 
limited  resources  of  a  colonial  town,  and  after  a 
residence  in  Newport  of  two  years  and  a  half, 
he  returned  to  Europe  and  a  broader  field  of  use- 
fulness and  honor.  His  library  of  eight  hundred 
and  eighty  volumes  he  left  to  Yale.  Brown  Uni- 
versity was  not  yet  established. 

Legislation  begins  to  take  notice  of  charitable 
institutions.  Attention  had  already  been  called 


148  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

to  the  condition  of  the  insane,  and  now  a  fund 
was  formed  for  the  relief  of  disabled  sailors  and 
their  families  by  deducting  sixpence  a  month 
from  the  wages  of  every  seaman  in  active  service. 
This  money  was  paid  over  to  the  town  in  which 
he  lived  and  which  was  bound  to  support  him. 

The  respect  for  the  rights  of  conscience  which 
forms  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  colonial 
polity,  still  meets  us  from  time  to  time  in  some 
new  application.  In  1730  the  militia  law  was 
modified  for  the  protection  of  the  Quakers.  Pro- 
vision was  also  made  for  the  protection  of  the 
Indians  by  an  act  requiring  the  assent  of  two 
justices  of  the  peace  to  give  validity  to  any  bond 
of  apprenticeship  in  which  the}*  were  concerned. 

In  1730  the  Board  of  Trade  called  for  a  census. 
The  population  was  found  to  have  increased  six 
thousand  in  ten  years — numbering  fifteen  thou- 
sand three  hundred  whites,  sixteen  hundred  and 
fifty  blacks,  and  nine  hundred  and  eighty  In- 
dians— nearly  eighteen  thousand  in  all,  almost 
equally  divided  between  the  three  counties.  Of 
these  eighteen  thousand  nearly  nine  hundred 
were  enrolled  in  the  militia.  Providence  was 
divided  into  four  towns. 

The  question  of  paper  money  still  excited  the 
Colony.  Governor  Jenckes  was  against  it,  but  it 
was  upheld  by  a  majority  of  the  Assembly.  By 
September,  1731,  one  hundred  and  ninety-five 
thousand  three  hundred  pounds  had  been  issued 
in  bills  of  credit,  of  which  one  hundred  and 


HISTORY   OF    ERODE   ISLAND.  149 

twenty  thousand  pounds  were  still  outstanding. 
Silver  had  risen  from  eight  to  twenty  shillings  an 
ounce.  Yet  such  was  the  general  infatuation 
that  in  this  very  year  a  new  bank  was  voted  of 
sixty  thousand  pounds. 

Yet  trade  increased  and  the  Colony  prospered. 
The  shipping  had  risen  in  ten  years  from  thirty- 
five  hundred  tons  to  five  thousand,  manned  by 
four  hundred  men.  Boston  was  the  principal 
mart  for  supplies,  but  two  ships  came  annually 
from  England,  two  from  Holland  and  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  ten  or  twelve  from  the  West 
Indies.  The  exports  which  comprised  live  stock, 
logwood,  lumber,  fish  and  the  products  of  the 
field  and  dairy,  amounted  to  ten  thousand  pounds 
a  year.  The  ordinary  expenses  of  the  government 
amounted  to  two  thousand,  the  extraordinary 
to  twenty-five  hundred  pounds  a  year,  colonial 
currency. 

The  paper  money  controversy  had  raised  a 
question  as  to  the  governor's  power  of  veto.  The 
law  officers  of  the  crown  were  consulted  by  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  declared  that  he  had  none. 
They  decided  also  that  the  King  himself  had 
none. 

The  publication  of  the  laws  had  met  a  public 
want.  The  first  edition  was  soon  exhausted  and 
a  new  one  called  for.  For  many  years  small 
pains  were  taken  to  secure  accuracy  in  the  text, 
the  preparation  of  it  being  left  to  the  clerk.  A 
wide  door  was  thus  left  open  for  interpolation, 


160  HISTOBY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

and  it  was  through  this  door  that  the  clause 
against  Roman  Catholics,  so  contrary  to  the 
spirit  and  policy  of  the  Colony  crept  into  the 
statute — to  be  silently  dropped  as  soon  as  atten- 
tion was  called  to  it. 

We  have  already  seen  that  provision  had  been 
made  for  the  defence  of  the  Colony  by  building  a 
fort  in  Newport  harbor.  Additional  provisions 
were  made  at  the  October  session  of  1732.  by  im- 
posing a  duty  of  sixpence  a  ton  upon  all  vessels 
that  entered  the  harbor  except  fishermen.  \\V 
have  already  seen  that  several  attempts  had  been 
made  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance,  and 
apparently  with  little  success.  In  173*2  another 
moral  principle  was  made  the  subject  of  legisla- 
tion, and  "  these  unlawful  games  called  lotter; 
suppressed  by  statute.  We  shall  soon  find  them 
legalized  and  in  some  instances  doing  the  oifice  of 
insurance  companies.  A  more  legitimate  source 
of  gain  was  found  in  the  whale  fishery,  which  was 
successfully  encouraged  by  a  premium.  Whales 
were  often  taken  in  Narragansett  Bay.  But  the 
first  regular  whaler  that  entered  Newport  harbor 
was  owned  by  Benjamin  Thurston,  and  brought 
a  hundred  and  fourteen  barrels  of  oil  and  two 
hundred  pounds  of  bone. 

It  was  not  till  many  trials  had  been  made  that 
a  satisfactory  regulation  of  the  tenure  of  office 
was  reached.  On  revising  the  statutes  good  be- 
havior was  made  the  term  of  tenure  for  the 
judges  and  clerks  of  common  pleas.  But  the 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  151 

democratic  element  was  too  strong  to  allow  this 
prolongation  to  gain  a  footing  of  authority,  and 
a  semi-annual  election  was  soon  substituted  to 
the  more  conservative  system.  The  deputies  had 
been  chosen  semi-annually.  In  1733  this  also 
was  changed  to  the  whole  year,  but  after  a  short 
trial  changed  back  again  to  the  half  year.  The 
first  printed  schedules  were  distributed  in  the 
summer  of  1733.  The  October  sessions  were  to 
be  held  alternately  at  Providence  and  South 
Kingstown.  The  certificates  of  election  were  care- 
fully scrutinized  and  irregular  proxies  rejected. 
In  1734  the  House  consisted  of  thirty-six  deputies, 
ten  assistants  and  three  general  officers,  a  secre- 
tary, attorney  and  treasurer. 

We  have  seen  that  vessels  engaged  in  fishing 
were  exempted  from  the  harbor  duty.  As  a  further 
encouragement  the  first  year's  interest  on  the  new 
loan  was  set  apart  for  building  a  pier  or  harbor 
on  Block  Island.  Westerly  harbor  was  repaired. 
The  river  fisheries  also  came  in  for  their  share  of 
protection,  and  dams  or  weirs  were  prohibited 
and  no  fishing  except  by  hook  and  line  permitted 
during  three  days  in  the  week.  The  first  session 
of  the  Assembly  at  East  Greenwich  was  distin- 
guished by  an  act  for  the  preservation  of  oysters, 
which  the  thoughtless  inhabitants  were  burning 
in  large  quantities  for  lime.  Important  acts  were 
passed  for  the  regulation  of  mills.  An  attempt 
to  cut  through  the  beach  on  Block  Island  failed, 
and  the  old  pier  was  enlarged. 


152  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

The  close  of  Governor  Jenckes's  term  of  office 
was  embarrassed  by  disputes  arising  from  the 
paper  money  controversy.  He  declined  a  reelec- 
tion, and  William  Wanton,  brother  of  the  Deputy, 
was  chosen  in  his  stead.  This  was  the  only 
instance  of  brothers  holding  the  two  principal 
offices  of  the  Colony  at  the  same  time.  The  dis- 
pute between  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island 
was  referred  to  Commissioners  from  New  York 
and  Connecticut.  No  decision  was  reached,  but 
the  Assembly  in  acknowledgment  of  their  ser- 
vices voted  them  three  silver  tankards  of  the 
value  of  fifty  pounds  each,  with  "the  arms  of 
Rhode  Island  handsomely  engraved  on  them." 

We  have  seen  that  Massachusetts  like  Rhode 
Island  had  sought  a  temporary  relief  in  the  issue 
of  paper  money.  The  King  interfered  and  the 
Massachusetts  bills  were  withdrawn.  This  was  a 
severe  blow  to  Rhode  Island,  and  hardly  a  less 
one  to  the  tradesmen  of  Boston,  whose  relations 
with  Rhode  Island  were  very  intimate.  Various 
devices  were  recurred  to  for  their  protection, 
among  them  a  combination  to  refuse  to  take 
Rhode  Island  bills  in  payment  for  goods.  But 
the  necessities  of  trade  were  too  great.  The  com- 
bination gave  way.  Silver  rose  to  twenty-seven 
shillings  an  ounce.  Debts  were  paid  at  a  loss  to 
the  creditor  of  thirty -three  per  cent.  The  future 
looked  very  dark. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  security  of  mar- 
riage. Till  1733  none  but  Quakers  or  clergymen 


HISTOKY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  153 

of  the  Church  of  England  could  perform  the  cere- 
mony. In  1733  authority  to  perform  it  was  ex- 
tended by  the  Assembly  to  clergymen  of  every 
denomination. 

The  death  of  Governor  William  Wanton,  which 
•occurred  in  1733,  produced  a  deep  sensation 
throughout  the  Colony,  where  he  was  greatly 
respected  for  his  civil  and  military  services.  Few 
•colonists  stood  higher  with  the  King.  On  a  visit 
to  England  with  his  brother  John,  he  was  pre- 
sented by  the  Queen  with  a  silver  punch-bowl 
and  salver  and  permitted  to  add  a  game-cock 
lighting  on  a  hawk  to  his  arms.  On  his  death 
his  brother,  John  Wanton,  the  Deputy-Governor, 
•was  chosen  to  fill  his  place. 

Education  still  forced  its  claims,  and  we  find 
•George  Taylor  successfully  petitioning  for  leave 
to  open  a  school  in  a  chamber  of  the  county 
house  of  Providence.  Fifty  years  before  the  first 
school  in  Providence  had  been  taught  by  William 
Turpin — of  whom,  unfortunately,  we  know  only 
the  name. 

From  time  to  time  come  questions  from  the 
Board  of  Trade  showing  how  carefully  England 
watched  over  her  revenues.  In  one  the  Colony 
was  asked  what  revenue  duties  were  laid  upon 
British  commerce.  The  impost  on  slaves  brought 
Irom  the  West  Indies  had  been  removed  by  the 
King's  orders,  and  Governor  Wanton  could 
answer  that  there  were  no  duties  affecting  the 
•direct  commerce  with  England.  Yet  a  conscious- 


154  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

ness  of  rights  appears  in  more  than  one  act  of  the 
Assembly.  The  Court  of  Vice-Admiralty  some- 
times exceeded  its  legitimate  authority  and  tried 
causes  over  which  it  had  no  jurisdiction.  This 
was  a  delicate  matter  for  the  colonial  legislature 
to  interfere  in,  for  the  court  was  appointed  by  the 
King.  But  without  heeding  this  the  Assembly 
conferred  upon  the  Supreme  Court  the  power  of 
injunction. 

The  small-pox  was  a  frequent  cause  of  alarm. 
In  1735-6  another  fearful  disease  desolated  ]XVw 
England.  It  was  called  the  throat  distemper, 
and  is  described  as  "a  swelled  throat,  with  white 
or  ash-colored  specks,  an  efflorescence  on  the  skin, 
great  debility  of  the  whole  system  and  a  strong 
tendency  to  putrefaction."  Xo  age  was  exempt 
from  it,  but  it  was  most  fatal  among  children. 

Roads  and  bridges  as  we  have  already 
had  received  early  attention.  Communication 
between  the  different  parts  of  the  Colony  in- 
creased with  the  increase  of  population.  In  1736 
a  line  of  stages  with  special  privileges  for  seven 
years  was  established  between  Newport  and  Bos- 
ton. The  natural  development  of  trade  was  pre- 
paring the  way  for  a  closer  union  among  the  col- 
onies. Increased  attention  was  given  to  the  dntit- s 
and  privileges  of  citizenship.  It  is  sad  to  find 
that  laws  against  bribery  at  elections  were  called 
for  at  an  early  day.  By  those  of  1736  both  briber 
and  bribed  were  fined  double  the  sum  offered  or 
received  and  deprived  for  three  years  of  the  right 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  155 

to  vote.  Illegal  voting  was  forbidden  under  the 
penalty  of  a  fine  of  two  pounds  and  disfranchise- 
ment  for  three  years. 

The  kindly  feeling  which  the  colonists  cherished 
for  the  mother  country  sometimes  received  a  prac- 
tical illustration.  In  the  spring  of  1737  His 
Majesty's  ship  Tartar  lay  in  Newport  harbor,  and 
that  she  was  a  welcome  visitor  the  Assembly 
proved  by  ordering  that  "a  score  of  the  best 
sheep  that  may  be  got  be  presented  to  her  com  • 
mander,  Mathew  Norris,  for  the  use  of  the  crew." 
None  foresaw  that  the  day  would  come  when  a 
British  press  gang  would  seize  free  citizens  in  tjiis 
same  harbor. 

The  expenses  of  local  government  increased. 
To  provide  for  this  increase  authority  was  given 
the  towns  to  assess  traders  from  abroad  for  a  fair 
proportion  of  the  outlays  of  the  town.  Changes 
were  also  made  in  the  mode  of  paying  jurors. 
Hitherto  they  had  been  paid  out  of  the  treas- 
ury— a  mode  liable  to  abuses  and  attended  with 
great  inconvenience.  It  was  voted  that  they 
should  receive  a  fixed  pay  of  six  shillings  a  day 
and  pay  their  own  expenses.  Public  attention 
had  been  called  early  to  protection  from  fires. 
As  the  population  of  the  larger  towns  grew, 
better  protection  was  required.  In  Newport  two 
companies  of  firemen  were  organized,  and  to  com- 
pensate them  for  their  services  they  were  ex- 
empted from  serving  on  juries  or  in  the  militia. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

WAR  WITH   SPAIN.— NEW   TAXES  LEVIED    BY   ENGLAND. — 
RELIGIOUS  AWAKENING   AMONG    THE  BAPTISTS. 

EVENTS  were  preparing  a  closer  union  of 
the  colonies.  England  declared  war  against 
Spain — a  war  of  commercial  rivalry,  for  Spain 
was  a  maritime  power  of  the  first  class,  and 
claimed  the  right  of  search.  England  sent  out 
her  ships  of  war  and  privateers,  and  carried  on  a 
lucrative  contraband  trade  among  the  Spanish 
islands  and  on  the  Spanish  main.  The  colonies 
were  called  upon  to  furnish  their  part  of  men  and 
munitions  of  war.  Rhode  Island  sent  out  priva- 
teers and  prepared  to  defend  her  harbors  and 
coast.  Fort  George  was  put  in  fighting  order  and 
a  garrison  of  fifty  two  men  stationed  there  under 
Colonel  John  Cranston.  New  Shoreham  was 
garrisoned  and  Block  Island  provided  with  six 
heavy  guns.  For  the  protection  of  the  coast  and 
shores  of  the  bay  seven  watch-towers  were 
erected  and  constant  guard  kept  in  them  by 
night  and  by  day.  Five  beacons  were  stationed 
between  Block  Island  and  Portsmouth  to  give 
warning  of  the  first  approach  of  danger,  and  the 
Colony' s  war  sloop,  the  Tartar,  of  a  hundred  and 
fifteen  tons  burthen  held  in  readiness  for  instant 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  157 

service.  Newport  merchants  also  entered  actively 
into  the  game  and  sent  out  in  the  second  year  of 
the  war  five  privateers  manned  by  five  hundred 
men. 

A  great  expedition  was  preparing  against  the 
Spanish  West  Indies.  Rhode  Island's  contingent 
was  two  companies  of  a  hundred  men  each.  The 
Newport  company  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Joseph  Sheffield,  the  Providence  company  by 
Captain  William  Hopkins.  The  Colony  was 
proud  of  its  work  and  feasted  both  officers  and 
men  before  they  set  sail  to  join  the  British 
squadron  at  New  York  and  bear  their  part  in  the 
disastrous  attempt  upon  Carthagena.  Meanwhile 
it  had  proved  its  mettle  by  taking  a  French 
contraband  schooner  and  carrying  her  into  New- 
port for  adjudication .. 

Rhode  Island  was  loyal,  loving  the  king  and 
accepting  the  supremacy  of  Parliament.  But  she 
was  quick  to  discriminate  between  usurpation 
and  legal  authority.  The  northern  colonies  car- 
ried on  a  lucrative  commerce  with  the  West 
Indies  and  particularly  with  the  French  Islands. 
Upon  this  trade  England  had  imposed  a  heavy 
tax  under  the  title  of  molasses  act,  and  was  pre- 
paring to  increase  it.  The  colonies  protested. 
Newport  dealt  largely  in  the  distilling  of  rum 
and  was  thus  a  great  consumer  of  molasses.  All 
looked  alike  to  the  trade  with  the  islands  for  the 
means  of  paying  for  their  importations  from  the 
mother  country.  But  the  objection  did  not  stop 


158  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

here.  Colonial  development  had  reached  the 
underlying  principle  of  the  revolution.  Parlia- 
ment taxed  Englishmen  as  their  representative. 
But  by  what  right  could  an  English  Parliament 
tax  Americans  ? 

Richard  Partridge,  the  colonial  agent,  and  a 
Quaker  in  faith,  acting  in  the  name  of  Rhode 
Island  and  other  northern  colonies,  "strenuously 
opposed"  the  new  restrictions,  and  the  Assembly 
requested  the  Governor  "to  write  to  the  neigh- 
boring governments,  inviting  them"  to  join  in 
the  opposition.  Thus  concerted  action  and  the 
right  of  self-taxation  begin  to  claim  their  legiti- 
mate place  in  colonial  polity,  and  prepare  the 
way  for  independence.  In  the  midst  of  these  agita- 
tions Governor  John  Wanton  died.  I  have  already 
spoken  of  him  as  of  one  of  the  great  names  of 
colonial  history  and  happy  as  few  public  men 
are  in  the  recognition  of  his  deserts.  He  was 
elected  Deputy-Governor  five  times  in  succession 
and  Governor  seven.  Deputy-Governor  Richard 
Ward  was  chosen  to  fill  his  place,  and  William 
Greene  was  promoted  to  the  place  of  Deputy- 
Governor  made  vacant  by  the  promotion  of 
Richard  Ward.  Henceforth  these  two  names 
become  prominent  in  Rhode  Island  history. 

Disease  came  with  war.  The  small-pox  broke 
out  again.  Portsmouth  and  Jamestown  were 
compelled  to  call  on  the  Assembly  for  aid  and 
Dutch  Island  was  used  as  quarantine  ground. 
While  the  minds  of  the  colonists  were  thus  pre- 


HISTORY   OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  159 

pared  for  thoughts  of  suffering  and  death,  George 
Whitefield  came  among  them  calling  them  to  re- 
pentance and  prayer.  Crowds  gathered  round 
him  to  listen  to  his  burning  words,  and  all  New 
England  was  filled  with  the  fame  of  his  eloquence. 
His  disciples  joined  the  Baptists  who  increased 
greatly  in  numbers  and  influence.  Samuel  Foth- 
ergill,  also,  the  calm  and  persuasive  Quaker, 
passed  at  this  time  a  half  year  in  Newport  in  the 
house  of  his  brother-in-law,  John  Proud,  and 
Quakerism  throve  under  his  gentle  teaching  as 
the  Baptists  throve  under  the  fervid  exhortations 
of  Whitefield. 

The  war  continued.  Spain  against  whom  it 
had  been  first  directed  formed  an  alliance  with 
France,  and  the  colonies  were  called  upon  for  new 
exertions.  Ten  more  cannon  were  mounted  in 
Fort  George  which  was  enlarged  to  receive  them. 
Ten  new  field-pieces  were  ordered.  A  brick  mag- 
azine was  built  for  the  safe  keeping  of  powder 
and  the  supply  of  military  stores  was  increased 
in  every  county.  To  secure  promptness  of  action 
the  Governor  and  Council  together  with  the  field 
officers  and  captains  were  formed  into  a  perma- 
nent council  of  war.  By  a  former  act  of  the 
Assembly  the  men  were  allowed  to  choose  their 
own  officers.  This  act  was  repealed  and  the  right 
of  choice  vested  in  the  Legislature  where  the 
charter  placed  it.  The  drill  system  was  incom- 
plete. A  more  thorough  one  was  established  and 
two  more  companies  were  raised  in  Newport.  In 


160  HISTOKY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

the  midst  of  these  warlike  preparations  the  rights 
of  conscience  were  respected  and  those  who  were 
scrupulous  about  the  shedding  of  blood  were 
employed  as  scouts  and  guards,  or  required  to 
furnish  horses  in  case  of  sudden  alarm,  or  do  any 
other  duty  consistent  with  their  religious  scruples. 

The  House  of  Commons  ever  watchful  over  the 
interests  of  British  commerce,  began  to  look 
with  suspicion  on  the  frequent  "emissions  of 
paper  currency  in  His  Majesty's  colonies  in 
America,  in  which  Rhode  Island  has  too  large  a 
share."  An  address  to  the  King  was  followed  by 
instructions  to  the  colonial  governors  from  the 
Board  of  Trade  to  transmit  to  the  home  govern- 
ment "an  account  of  the  tenor  and  amount  of 
the  bills  of  credit"  issued  by  each  colony,  the 
times  when  they  fell  due,  the  number  actually 
outstanding  and  their  value  in  "  money  of  Great 
Britain,  both  at  the  time  such  bills  were  issued 
and  at  the  time  of  preparing  the  account."  The 
Governor's  opinion  was  also  required  upon  the 
still  more  difficult  subject  of  "sinking  and  dis- 
charging all  such  bills  of  credit." 

Governor  Ward  replied  on  the  part  of  Rhode 
Island  by  an  elaborate  history  of  the  colonial  cur- 
rency and  an  able  exposition  of  the  causes  and 
necessities  from  which  it  arose.  Unfortunately 
these  necessities  still  existed,  and  without  heeding 
the  warning  implied  by  the  action  of  the  House 
of  Commons  the  Assembly  "created  a  new  bank 
of  twenty  thousand  pounds  for  ten  years  at  four 


HISTORY    OF   ERODE   ISLAND.  161 

per  cent."  The  paper  issued  under  this  act  was 
called  the  new  tenor,  because  unlike  the  earlier 
issues  the  bills  bore  on  their  faces  the  exact 
amount  of  gold  and  silver  they  were  supposed  to 
represent.  Silver  on  the  new  tenor  notes  was 
rated  at  six  shillings  and  ninepence  sterling,  gold 
at  five  pounds  an  ounce,  and  thus  the  value  of 
a  new  tenor  bill  was  four  times  that  of  an  old 
tenor  bill.  The  seeds  of  bankruptcy  were  thickly 
sown  in  both. 

The  question  of  the  eastern  boundary  line,  one 
of  the  bitterest  of  the  many  disputes  with  Mas- 
sachusetts, had  after  several  vain  attempts  to  come 
to  an  amicable  agreement,  been  referred,  in  1741, 
to  a  royal  commission.  With  the  decision  of 
this  commission  neither  party  was  altogether 
satisfied,  Massachusetts  claiming  a  great  deal 
and  Rhode  Island  something  more  than  it 
awarded  them.  Both  parties  appealed.  But  the 
commission  adhered  to  its  decision,  and  the  line 
fixed  by  it  continued  to  be  the  boundary  between 
the  two  colonies  till  after  the  adoption  of  the 
Federal  constitution. 


11 


CHAPTER    XX. 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  THE  FRENCH.— CHANGE  IN  THE 
JURISDICTION  OF  THE  COURTS. — SENSE  OF  COMMON  INTER- 
EST DEVELOPING  AMONG  THE  COLONISTS.  —  LOL'ISBURG 
CAPTURED. 

WAR  still  continued  to  give  its  stern  coloring 
to  legislation.  The  Tartar  was  held  ready  for 
instant  service.  The  Governor  and  his  council 
were  vested  with  the  power  of  laying  an  em- 
bargo upon  outward  bound  vessels.  Speculation 
turned  seaward,  and  the  money  which  in  peace 
would  have  been  employed  in  building  up  com- 
merce and  manufactures  was  spent  upon  priva- 
teers. 

Still  the  interests  of  peace  were  not  altogether 
neglected.  The  productive  enterprise  which  was 
to  raise  Rhode  Island  so  high  in  the  list  of  man- 
ufacturing states,  was  already  awakened,  and  as 
early  as  1741  James  Greene  and  his  associates 
petitioned  the  Assembly  for  permission  to  build 
a  dam  across  the  south  branch  of  Pawtuxet  river 
and  lay  the  foundation  of  those  iron  works  which 
in  the  sequel  became  so  celebiated  throughout 
the  colonies.  Population  was  increasing.  The 
large  townships  became  too  large  for  the  demands 
of  local  government  and  were  divided.  Thus 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  163 

Greenwich,  carrying  out  the  suggestions  of  its 
position,  was  divided  into  East  and  West.  About 
the  same  time  Warwick  was  divided  and  a  new 
township  set  out  under  the  name  of  Coventry. 
In  the  next  year  North  Kingstown  was  divided  and 
the  Town  of  Exeter  incorporated,  and  a  year  later 
the  country  district  of  Newport,  which  was  sep- 
arated from  the  town  by  thick  woods,  was  incor- 
porated as  Middletown.  The  territorial  struggle 
was  nearly  over  and  Rhode  Island  was  settling 
down  into  its  permanent  proportions.  The  sched- 
ules still  continue  to  record  the  progress  of 
organization  as  experience  called  for  new  changes. 
The  office  of  attorney-general  was  abolished  and 
a  King's  attorney  for  every  county  appointed 
instead.  A  Court  of  Equity  composed  of  five 
judges,  annually  elected  by  the  Assembly,  was 
formed  to  try  all  causes  of  appeal  in  personal 
actions  from  the  Superior  Court  to  the  General 
Assembly — a  course  which  "by  long  experience 
had  been  found  prejudicial."  To  draw  closer  the 
ties  of  loyalty  a  form  of  prayer  for  the  royal 
family  was  sent  from  England  to  be  read  in  every 
religious  assembly  throughout  the  colonies  as  a 
part  of  public  worship. 

The  dissensions  with  Connecticut  concerning 
the  western  boundary  had  taken  a  new  form. 
The  line,  as  the  reader  will  remember,  had  been 
drawn  and  marked  by  competent  authority.  A 
committee  appointed  by  Connecticut  displaced 
the  bound  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Warwick. 


164  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

The  Rhode  Island  Assembly  sent  surveyors  to 
examine  the  ground  and  restore  the  line.  This 
outrage  was  repeated  twice. 

The  hist  or}'  of  the  war  does  not  belong  to  the 
history  of  Rhode  Island,  although  the  spirit 
engendered  by  it  led  to  the  formation  of  some 
military  institutions.  Among  these  was  the 
Newport  Artillery,  which  was  chartered  in  1741, 
and  is  still  one  of  the  best  disciplined  corps  in 
the  State. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  substitution  of  King's 
attorneys  to  attorneys-general.  It  was  made  in 
the  hope  of  enforcing  the  payment  of  interest 
bonds.  But  after  a  short  trial  the  original  form 
was  resumed.  The  root  of  the  evil  was  too  deep. 
Another  of  the  chronic  evils  of  paper  money 
vexed  the  Colony  sorely.  Counterfeit  bills  fol- 
lowed close  upon  the  issue  of  genuine  bills,  and 
the  Colony  was  flooded  with  bad  money. 

The  Court  of  Equity  was  not  continued  long, 
and  many  other  changes  of  brief  duration  were 
made  in  various  branches  of  government.  But 
what  deserves  especial  mention  is  the  instinctive 
perception  with  which  Rhode  Island  detected  the 
slightest  invasion  of  her  chartered  rights  and  the 
courage  with  which  she  defended  them.  The 
clerkship  of  the  naval  office  in  Newport  was 
claimed  by  one  Leonard  Lockman  in  virtue  of  a 
royal  commission.  The  claim  was  referred  to  a 
committee  which  reported  "that  His  Majesry 
was  mistaken  in  said  grant  "  which  belonged  to 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  165 

the  Governor,  who  alone  was  responsible  for  the 
conduct  of  that  officer.  The  question  of  custom 
fees  and  vice-admiralty  fees  was  brought  for- 
ward about  the  same  time,  and  "the  undoubted 
right  of  the  General  Assembly  to  state  the  fees  of 
all  officers  and  courts  within  the  Colony"  boldly 
asserted. 

The  expenses  of  the  war  still  increased,  strain- 
ing the  resources  of  the  Colony  to  the  utmost. 
Questions  of  organization  were  still  rising,  but 
the  question  of  finance  was  the  most  difficult  of 
all.  New  bills  were  issued  with  reckless  profu- 
sion, and  various  devices  adopted  for  the  relief  of 
the  exchequer.  Several  bounties,  and  among 
them  the  bounties  on  hemp  and  oil,  were  with- 
drawn. The  tonnage  duty  upon  all  vessels  enter- 
ing the  Colony  was  revived.  The  lottery  so  wisely 
condemned  in  1733  was  legalized  in  1744.  Wey- 
bosset  bridge  was  built  by  lottery. 

The  great  military  event  of  the  campaign  of 
1745  was  the  capture  of  Louisburg  by  colonial 
troops.  In  this  gallant  feat  of  arms  which  fills  so 
bright  a  page  of  colonial  annals  Rhode  Island 
bore  her  part — especially  through  the  Tartar, 
which,  supported  by  two  other  war  sloops,  de- 
feated at  Famme  Goose  Bay  a  flotilla  which  was 
advancing  with  large  reinforcements  to  the  relief 
of  the  enemy.  Captain  Fones,  who  commanded 
the  Tartar  in  this  memorable  campaign,'  has  not 
received  the  honorable  mention  to  which  he  was 
entitled  for  his  gallantry  and  skill. 


166  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

New  exertions  were  required  for  securing  Louis- 
burg,  and  the  colonies  were  again  called  upon 
to  furnish  men  and  supplies.  In  this  also  Rhode 
Island  bore  her  part,  propping  as  best  she  might 
her  tottering  treasury  and  using  impressment 
for  raising  men.  When  the  war  was  over  Eng- 
land acknowledged  her  services  by  special  grants. 

In  this  year  Rhode  Island  lost  one  of  her  faith- 
ful sons.  Colonel  John  Cranston,  son  of  the  pop- 
ular Governor,  and  commander  of  her  forces  at 
the  capture  of  Port  Royal.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  year  another  great  loss,  though  of  another 
kind,  fell  upon  the  Colony.  Two  new  privateers, 
mounting  twenty-two  guns  each,  with  crews  of 
over  two  hundred  men  went  to  sea  the  day  before 
Christmas  in  a  gale  of  wind  and  were  never  heard 
of  again.  Privateers  held  a  place  in  war  then 
which  they  do  not  hold  now,  and  there  was  bitter 
sorrowing  in  more  than  two  hundred  households 
when  the  months  passed  away  and  no  tidings  of 
husband  or  father  or  brother  came. 

The  success  of  the  expedition  against  Louis- 
burg  increased  the  desire  to  carry  the  war  into 
Canada.  Commissioners  from  the  colonies  were 
invited  to  meet  and  take  council  together  concern- 
ing the  common  interest.  Here  we  meet  for  the 
first  time  the  names  of  Stephen  Hopkins  and 
William  Ellery,  whose  names  stand  side  by  side 
on  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which  is 
already  drawing  nigh.  The  sense  of  common 
interest  and  mutual  dependence  gradually  gains 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  167 

ground.  Every  exertion  was  made  to  call  out 
the  strength  of  the  Colony.  Popular  feeling  went 
with  government  and  strengthened  its  hand  for 
the  great  contest.  Canada  and  Indian  warfare 
were  inseparably  connected  in  the  minds  of  the 
people,  who,  to  rid  themselves  of  the  dreaded 
enemy  submitted  cheerfully  to  what  they  would 
otherwise  have  resisted  as  tyranny.  Impress- 
ment was  authorized  by  the  Assembly. 

In  the  midst  of  these  efforts  depreciation  was 
undermining  the  strength  and  corrupting  the 
moral  sense  of  the  community.  The  property 
tax  of  freemen  had  doubled.  Bribery  and  fraud- 
ulent voting  gained  ground,  and  an  attempt  was 
again  made  to  meet  them  by  increasing  the  sever- 
ity of  the  law.  Every  voter  and  every  officer  was 
required  to  declare  under  oath  that  he  had  neither 
taken  nor  offered  a  bribe  ;  and  a  single  fraudulent 
vote  was  sufficient  to  invalidate  an  election.  The 
evidence  of  the  briber  held  good  against  the 
bribed  ;  and  that  the  law  might  not  be  forgotten 
it  was  ordered  to  be  "read  in  town  meeting  at 
every  semi-annual  election  for  five  years  and  the 
name  of  every  transgressor  stricken  from  the  roll 
of  freemen." 

Again,  the  vacillation  of  the  ministry  defeated 
the  expedition  against  Canada.  Then  came  tid- 
ings of  a  great  French  armada  which  was  com- 
ing to  the  conquest  of  New  Engand.  Great  was 
the  alarm  of  the  colonies.  But  help  came  from 
another  quarter.  Disease  and  tempest  scattered 


168  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

and  infected  the  hostile  fleet.  One  commander 
died.  His  successor  committed  suicide,  and  the 
shattered  remnants  of  the  unfortunate  armada 
had  hard  work  to  make  their  way  back  to  the 
French  coast. 

Before  the  tidings  of  this  disaster  could  reach 
New  England  it  had  been  resolved  to  send  rein- 
forcements to  the  succor  of  Annapolis  Royal, 
the  supposed  point  of  attack.  The  Rhode  Island 
troops  sailed  early  in  November.  The  Massachu- 
setts troops  soon  followed.  Both  were  overtaken 
by  heavy  gales  which  cast  some  of  them  ashore  at 
Mt.  Desert.  Some,  like  their  adversaries,  the 
French,  were  crippled  by  disease  and  a  few  made 
their  way  to  the  nearest  port.  Winter  set  in  and 
the  campaign  of  1746  closed  in  gloom. 

This  was  the  year  in  which  the  royal  decree 
concerning  the  eastern  boundary  was  enforced. 
Rhode  Island  gained  by  it  a  large  accession  of 
territory — the  towns  of  Bristol,  Tiverton,  Little 
Compton,  Warren  and  Cumberland,  which  were 
incorporated  and  brought  under  the  control  of 
Rhode  Island  laws.  Thus  ten  new  deputies  were 
added  to  the  colonial  representation.  Thus,  also, 
a  revision  of  the  judicial  and  military  system  of 
the  Colony  became  necessary,  and  a  new  court 
was  established  under  the  title  of  Superior  Court 
of  Judicature,  Court  of  Assize  and  General  Jail 
Delivery,  and  consisting  of  a  chief-justice  and 
four  associate  justices  annually  chosen  by  the 
Assembly.  The  judicial  powers  of  the  assistants 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  169 

or  upper  house  of  Assembly  ceased,  though  they 
still  continued  to  act  as  a  court  of  probate.  Two 
militia  companies  were  formed  in  Tiverton  and 
one  in  each  of  the  other  new  towns. 

The  previous  history  of  the  new  towns  belongs 
to  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth.  Their  annexa- 
tion to  Rhode  Island  brought  her  an  increase  of 
about  four  thousand  inhabitants,  well  trained 
most  of  them  in  the  tenets  of  religious  freedom. 


OHAPTEE   XXI. 

ATTEMPT  TO  RETURN  TO  SPECIE  PAYMENTS.— CHANGES  IN  THE 
REQUIREMENTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP. — NEW  COUNTIES  AND 
TOWNS  FORMED. — FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR. — WARD  AND 
HOPKINS  CONTEST.— ESTABLISHMENT  OF  NEWSPAPERS. 

THE  war  was  almost  over,  although  privateers 
still  endangered  maritime  commerce.  First  an 
armistice  was  agreed  upon  for  four  months  and 
then  peace  was  signed  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  on  the 
30th  of  April,  1748.  It  was  a  welcome  peace 
although  the  war  had  brought  lessons  with  it 
which  were  never  forgotten.  The  men  who  had 
fought  at  Louisburg  were  looked  upon  as  veter- 
ans, and  when  the  final  struggle  came  brought 
experience  to  the  service  of  the  revolting  colonies. 
Parliament,  well  aware  of  the  readiness  with  which 
the  colonies  had  contributed  to  the  support  of 
the  war  both  by  men  and  by  money,  made  them  a 
grant. of  eight  hundred  thousand  pounds  as  an 
indemnity.  Rhode  Island's  share  for  the  expe- 
dition against  Cape  Breton  was  six  thousand 
three  hundred  and  twenty-two  pounds  twelve 
shillings  and  tenpence ;  for  the  expedition 
against  Canada,  ten  thousand  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  pounds  nine  shillings  and  sixpence. 
But  deductions  were  afterwards  made  in  a  cavil- 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  171 

ing  spirit  which  excited  bitter  feelings.  Still 
more  irritating  to  colonial  pride  was  the  article 
restoring  to  France  her  conquered  territories,  for 
among  them  was  Louisburg.  Of  the  right  of 
search,  the  original  cause  of  the  war,  no  mention 
was  made,  a  precedent  not  forgotten  in  the  war 
of  1812.  Now  was  the  time  to  heal  the  wound 
which  paper  money  had  inflicted  upon  the  com- 
merce of  the  country.  Hutchinson,  an  aspiring 
young  statesman  of  Massachusetts,  formed  a  plan 
for  sinking  the  paper  money  and  restoring  specie 
payment  by  means  of  this  grant.  Massachusetts 
after  a  long  discussion,  wisely  adopted  Hutchin- 
son's  plan.  Rhode  Island  arid  Connecticut  re- 
jected it.  Rhode  Island  presently  felt  the  con- 
sequences of  her  error  by  the  loss  of  her  West 
India  trade. 

The  records  of  the  labors  of  peace  again  fill 
the  schedules.  Charlestown  was  divided  into  two 
towns  and  the  name  of  Richmond  given  to  the 
portion  north  of  Pawcatuck  river.  The  commu- 
nications bet  ween  the  different  parts  of  the  Colony 
were  carefully  watched  over.  There  were  already 
nineteen  ferries  when  peace  returned,  and  of 
these  thirteen  served  to  keep  up  the  connection 
with  the  seat  of  government. 

The  year  before  the  peace  the  first  public 
library  in  the  Colony,  the  Redwood  Library,  was 
founded.  It  was  fruit  of  the  good  tree  planted 
by  Berkeley.  In  1754  Providence  followed  the 
noble  example  and  founded  the  Providence  Li- 


172  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

brary  Association.  In  the  following  year  we  find 
another  attempt  to  enforce  a  moral  law  by  legis- 
lative enactment.  The  act  against  swearing  was 
revised,  and  a  fine  of  five  shillings  or  three  hours 
in  the  stocks  imposed  as  a  penalty  for  every 
offence. 

The  increase  of  population  called  for  a  revision 
of  the  statute  of  legal  residence.  "New  comers 
were  required  to  give  a  month's  notice  of  intention 
to  become  residents,  after  which  if  they  remained 
one  year  without  being  warned  to  leave  they  were 
admitted  as  lawful  inhabitants  of  the  town."  A 
freehold  estate  of  thirty  pounds  sterling  also 
gave  a  legal  residence.  ''Apprentices  having 
served  their  time  in  any  town,  might  elect  their 
residence  there,  or  return  to  the  place  of  their 
birth.  Paupers  not  having  acquired  a  legal  set- 
tlement might  be  removed  by  the  councils  on 
complaint  of  the  overseer  of  the  poor,  to  the 
place  of  their  last  legal  residence  or  to  that  of 
their  birth."  So  careful  was  the  watch  kept 
over  the  conditions  and  privileges  of  citizenship. 
The  Board  of  Trade  called  for  a  new  census. 
"The  population  was  found  to  consist  of  thirty- 
four  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
souls,  of  whom  twenty-nine  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  were  whites,  the  remainder  blacks 
and  Indians.  Newport  contained  forty-six  hun- 
dred and  fort}'  souls,  Providence  thirty-four  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two." 

The  lottery  had  taken  a  strong  hold  upon  the 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  173 

innate  love  of  chance.  The  two  first  lotteries  had 
been  applied  to  public  improvements.  The  third 
was  formed  for  the  relief  of  an  insolvent  debtor. 
Henceforth  we  meet  it  as  a  common  relief  in  busi- 
ness misfortunes  and  a  natural  assistant  in  new 
enterprises. 

The  winter  of  1748-49  was  made  memorable  in 
Rhode  Island  annals  by  the  death  of  John  Cal- 
lender,  her  first  historian  and  pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Newport.  Among  the  public 
works  of  the  year  which  the  growing  commerce 
of  the  Colony  called  for,  was  a  light-house  at  the 
south  end  of  Conanicut,  still  known  as  Beaver  Tail 
Light. 

Depreciation  began  to  make  itself  deeply  felt 
as  the  interests  of  English  commerce  became  more 
and  more  interwoven  with  those  of  colonial  com- 
merce. Their  raw  products  were  the  only  articles 
that  the  colonies  could  give  in  exchange  for  Eng- 
lish manufactures.  Their  West  India  trade  was 
their  only  source  of  coin.  Colonial  bills  out  of 
the  colonies  were  worthless.  The  subject  was 
brought  before  the  House  of  Commons,  which 
called  for  a  full  and  accurate  statement  of  the 
condition  of  the  currency.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Assembly  to  prepare  the  state- 
ment, and  Partridge  the  colonial  agent  directed 
to  present  and  support  it.  By  this  report  it  was 
shown  that  three  hundred  and  twelve  thousand 
three  hundred  pounds  in  bills  of  credit,  emitted 
to  supply  the  treasury  since  May,  1710,  of  which 


174  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

one  hundred  and  seventy- seven  thousand  had 
been  burned  at  various  times  and  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  thousand  pounds  were  still  out- 
standing, amounting  in  all  in  sterling  money  to 
about  thirty-six  thousand  pounds. 

An  interesting  incident  of  this  year  was  the 
organization  of  a  Moravian  mission. 

The  statute  book  records  several  new  criminal 
statutes.  It  is  an  illustration  of  domestic  rela- 
tions that  the  first  divorce  was  granted  by  the 
Assembly  in  1754 — more  than  a  hundred  years 
after  the  foundation  of  the  Colony.  And  it  may 
be  taken  as  proof  of  the  feelings  of  the  Colony 
towards  England,  that  a  large  number  of  English 
statutes  were  transferred  to  the  colonial  statute 
book.  New  precautions  against  fire  were  taken 
in  Xewport  by  the  formation  of  firewards.  and  a 
fire  engine  was  sent  for  from  England.  Provi- 
dence soon  followed  the  example.  Another  step 
was  taken  towards  a  satisfactory  distribution  of 
the  territory  by  forming  East  and  West  Green- 
wich, Coventry  and  Warwick  into  a  new  county 
under  the  name  of  Kent  County,  with  East  Green- 
wich for  its  county  town.  The  new  county  was 
required  to  build  a  court  house  at  its  own  ex- 
pense, which  was  partly  done  by  lottery.  Four 
years  later  another  town  was  formed  from  Provi- 
dence County  and  incorporated  under  the  name  of 
Cranston.  In  spite  of  the  increased  depreciation 
of  the  currency  the  Colony  continued  to  grow  in 
numbers  and  strength.  Seventeen  hundred  and 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  175 

fifty-two  was  made  memorable  both  in  England 
and  her  colonies  by  the  adoption  of  the  Gregorian 
calendar.  Henceforth  the  new  year  begins  on  the 
first  of  January  instead  of  the  twenty -fifth  of 
March. 

But  the  great  event  of  the  year  was  the  decision 
of  the  lawsuit  for  the  possession  of  the  glebe 
lands  in  Narragansett,  a  suit  of  nearly  thirty 
years  standing,  and  which  after  passing  through 
many  phases  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  Congre- 
gationalists  against  the  Episcopalians,  upon  the 
ground  that  "by  the  Rhode  Island  charter  all 
denominations  were  orthodox,  and  that  a  majority 
of  the  grantors  when  the  deed  took  effect  were 
Presbyterians  or  Congregationalists." 

Meanwhile  paper  money  was  doing  its  bad 
work.  The  calendar  of  private  petitions  bears 
sad  witness  to  the  evil.  Bankruptcy  became 
frequent,  and  among  the  bankrupts  of  those  days 
of  gloom  was  Joseph  Whipple,  the  Deputy-Gov- 
ernor, who,  surrendering  all  his  property  to  his 
creditors  was  relieved  by  a  special  act  of  insol- 
vency. The  spirit  of  enterprise  though  dulled, 
was  not  crushed. 

The  first  recorded  patent  was  granted  in  1753. 
Parliament  had  passed  an  act  to  encourage  the 
making  of  potash  in  the  colonies,  and  Moses 
Lopez  took  out  a  patent  for  making  it  for  ten 
years  by  a  process  known  only  to  himself.  The 
next  year  a  similar  patent  was  granted  to  James 
Rogers  for  the  manufacture  of  pearl-ash.  The 


176  HISTORY    OF   RHODE    ISLAND. 

industrial  instinct  which  was  to  receive  in  the 
sequel  so  great  a  development,  was  already  gird- 
ing itself  up  for  the  trial.  The  spirit  of  asso- 
ciation, also,  was  awakening.  A  society  of  sea- 
captains  was  incorporated  for  mutual  assistance 
under  the  name  of  the  Fellowship  Club.  From 
this  grew  the  Newport  Marine  Society. 

A  new  war  was  at  hand,  a  war  known  to  our 
childhood  as  the  old  French  war,  and  the  last 
waged  by  France  and  England  for  the  dominion 
of  North  America.  The  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 
had  left  the  door  wide  open  for  new  claims,  and 
these  soon  led  to  a  new  war.  Here  again  Rhode 
Island  displayed  great  energy,  sending  Stephen 
Hopkins  and  Martin  Howard,  Jr.,  to  represent  her 
as  Commissioners  at  the  Albany  Congress  of  17.">4. 
in  which  Franklin  brought  forward  his  plan  for 
developing  by  union  the  resources  of  the  colonies, 
she  took  promptly  the  steps  necessary  for  her 
own  defence  and  complied  cheerfully  with  the 
requisitions  of  the  English  commanders.  In  this 
as  in  former  wars  she  sent  out  her  privateers  to 
harrass  the  enemy's  commerce.  But  her  part  in 
the  contest  was  a  limited  one.  Her  troops  went 
as  contingents  not  as  armies.  She  had  no  gen- 
erals to  give  their  names  to  great  victories,  and 
when  peace  returned  her  soldiers  and  sailors  re- 
turned cheerfully  to  the  duties  and  avocations  of 
common  life. 

The  annexation  of  the  eastern  towns  in  1757 
marks  an  important  period  in  the  history  of 


HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  177 

Rhode  Island.  With  two  unfriendly  neighbors 
on  each  side  she  had  been  compelled  to  contend 
inch  by  inch  for  her  territory.  All  the  obstacles 
which  impede  development  had  accumulated  in 
her  path.  All  the  dangers  which  menace  the  ex- 
istence of  feeble  colonies  had  beset  her.  She  had 
faced  them  all,  she  had  overcome  them  all.  A 
great  principle  lay  at  the  root  of  her  civilization, 
and  humanity  itself  was  inseparably  connected 
with  her  success. 

From  the  annexation  of  the  eastern  towns  in 
1757  to  the  peace  of  Paris  in  1763,  all  the  leading 
events  were  more  or  less  connected  with  the  war. 
Privateering  took  the  place  of  commerce.  Taxes 
were  levied  to  build  and  arm  forts  and  raise  and 
equip  soldiers,  not  to  erect  churches  and  court 
houses  and  libraries  and  schools. 

The  war  was  lingering  but  decisive.  It  gave 
England  one  brilliant  victory  and  one  illustrious 
name — the  Heights  of  Abraham,  and  Wolf — to  the 
colonies  the  lesson  so  valuable  a  few  years  later 
that  English  troops  might  be  driven  where  colo- 
nists held  their  ground,  and  the  name  of  Wash- 
ington. Recorded  in  European  history  as  the 
seven  years  war,  for  the  colonies  it  was  a  war  of 
nine  years,  hostilities  having  begun  two  years  be- 
fore war  was  declared.  Nowhere  is  man's  place 
in  history  more  distinctly  marked  than  in  this 
war,  which  till  the  right  man  came  was  a  suc- 
cession of  blunders  and  defeats.  With  William 
Pitt  came  victory. 
12 


178  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

While  the  war  was  still  confined  to  the  colonies 
a  large  nnmber  of  French  residents  had  been 
thrown  into  jail  as  prisoners  of  war.  What  was 
their  legal  position  <  The  question  was  brought 
before  the  Assembly  by  a  petition  for  release, 
which  was  so  far  granted  as  to  authorize  their 
transportation  to  some  neutral  port,  and  so  far 
rejected  as  to  still  subject  them  to  the  laws  of 
war. 

We  have  seen  how  watchful  the  home  govern- 
ment was  to  enforce  the  laws  of  trade.  But 
with  all  its  watchfulness  smuggling  still  prevailed 
in  every  colony.  Xew  orders  came  from  the 
King  directing  the  Assembly  to  ''pass  effectual 
laws  for  prohibiting  all  trade  and  commerce  with 
the  French,  and  for  preventing  the  exportation  of 
provisions  of  all  kinds  to  any  of  their  islands  or 
colonies."  The  Assembly  passed  the  neu-ssaiy 
acts.  But  too  many  and  too  powerful  inter--  - 
were  involved  to  admit  of  their  rigorous  »-xt  <  ution. 

To  this  period  belongs  the  bitterest  party  con- 
test in  the  annals  of  Rhode  Island,  generally 
known  as  the  Ward  and  Hopkins  contest.  Sam- 
uel Ward  and  Stephen  Hopkins  were  the  fore- 
most Rhode  Islanders  of  their  time ;  both  men 
of  self-acquired  culture  and  both  illustrious  by 
public  services.  Hopkins  was  the  elder  of  the 
two,  being  born  at  Scituate  on  the  7th  of  March, 
1717.  Ward  was  his  junior  by  eighteen  years. 
Both  were  farmers  and  merchants,  and  both  sin- 
cerely devoted  to  the  interests  of  their  native  Col- 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  179 

ony.  But  as  to  what  those  interests  were  they 
differed  widely,  and  their  difference  soon  took  the 
form  of  town  and  country  parties.  Newport  was 
the  leading  town  of  the  Colony,  not  only  in  com- 
mercial enterprise  but  in  intellectual  culture. 
Berkeley  had  not  left  his  foot-prints  therein  vain. 
This  seat  of  Rhode  Island  culture  was  best  rep- 
resented by  Samuel  Ward.  The  name  of  Hop- 
kins stood  for  the  country.  The  distribution  of 
taxes  was  one  of  the  questions  at  issue.  Paper 
money  was  another.  By  degrees  all  questions  of 
public  policy  were  classed  under  the  one  or  the 
other  of  these  two  leading  names.  There  were 
sharp  contests  at  the  polls,  painful  severings  of 
social  ties  and  all  the  bitterness  which  partisan- 
ship gives  to  political  discussion.  At  last  the 
aid  of  the  law  was  invoked  and  Hopkins  sued 
Ward  for  slander.  It  is  a  singular  illustration  of 
the  altered  relations  between  Rhode  Island  and 
Massachusetts  that  in  order  to  obtain  an  impar- 
tial jury  the  trial  should  have  taken  place  at 
Worcester.  Ward  was  acquitted  and  Hopkins 
condemned  to  pay  the  costs.  In  a  few  years  the 
party  contest  gave  way  to  the  graver  contest  of 
the  Revolution  wherein  the  two  leaders  took  their 
seats  side  by  side  in  Congress  Hall. 

Among  the  events  of  domestic  interest  which 
belong  to  this  period  was  the  burning  of  the 
Providence  Court  House — not  so  much  for  the 
loss  of  the  building  as  for  that  of  the  Providence 
Library  which  was  kept  in  one  of  its  rooms.  The 


180  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

want  of  a  public  library  was  keenly  felt,  and  when 
a  lottery  was  granted  for  rebuilding  the  court 
house,  half  of  its  proceeds  were  set  apart  for  the 
library.  Rhode  Island  already  felt  the  importance 
of  libraries  and  schools.  She  will  persevere  in  this 
course  till  it  secures  her  a  comprehensive  school 
system  and  an  admirable  university. 

The  theatre  found  less  favor,  although  its 
founder,  David  Douglass,  brought  with  him  the 
recommendation  of  the  Governor  and  Council  of 
Virginia.  His  first  application  for  a  licence  in 
Newport  failed ;  a  second  was  more  successful ; 
and  this  pioneer  of  the  American  stage  drew  for 
a  while  good  houses.  He  moved  to  Providence 
and  built  a  permanent  theatre.  Many  came  from 
Boston  to  seek  an  enjoyment  which  they  could 
not  find  at  home.  But  the  current  soon  turned. 
The  Bostonians  met  with  a  cold  reception,  and  the 
short-lived  pleasure  was  condemned  as  a  nuisance. 

A  newspaper  was  a  want  more  generally  ac- 
knowledged. Hitherto  there  had  been  none  in 
the  Colon5r.  But  in  the  summer  of  1758  the  New- 
port Mercury  was  established,  and  has  held  its 
ground  with  varying  fortunes  to  our  own  day. 
Four  years  later  William  Goddard  established 
in  Providence  the  Providence  Gazette  and  Coun- 
try Journal.  Among  its  first  contributors  was 
Governor  Hopkins,  who  began  for  it  his  "Ac- 
count of  Providence,"  but  called  to  other  sub- 
jects by  the  excitement  of  the  times  he  never 
went  beyond  the  first  chapter.  Enough,  how- 


HISTORY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  181 

ever,  was  published  to  call  out  several  insulting 
letters  from  Massachusetts. 

Times  were  daily  becoming  more  and  more 
critical.  The  Board  of  Trade  insisted  upon  the 
rigorous  enforcement  of  the  navigation  act.  The 
colonial  governments  passed  the  necessary  laws 
but  could  not  enforce  them.  It  was  then  that 
writs  of  assistance  were  first  called  for,  and  from 
this  call  arose  that  trial,  so  celebrated  in  colonial 
annals,  the  first  mutterings  of  the  tempest  which 
was  at  hand.  James  Otis  became  a  familiar  name 
throughout  the  colonies. 

For  thirty-four  years  the  Quaker  diplomatist, 
Richard  Partridge,  had  faithfully  and  skillfully 
served  Rhode  Island  as  her  agent  in  London. 
In  1759  mindful  to  the  last  of  the  interests  of 
the  Colony,  he  wrote  on  his  death  bed  to  recom- 
mend a  brother  Quaker,  Joseph  Sherwood,  for  his. 
successor. 

In  this  same  year  freemasonry  was  introduced, 
a  charter  was  granted  by  the  Assembly  with  per- 
mission to  raise  twenty -four  hundred  dollars  by 
lottery  for  building  a  hall  in  Newport. 

We  have  seen  how  early  attention  was  called 
to  the  subject  of  fires.  In  1759  the  immediate 
action  at  fires  was  placed  under  the  direction  of 
five  presidents  of  firewards,  three  of  whom  were 
elected  at  annual  town  meetings  with  authority 
to  blow  up  buildings  if  necessary  in  order  "to 
stop  the  progress  of  the  flames."  These  details 
though  minute,  serve  to  show  how  far  our  fathers 


182  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

carried  their  ideas  of  the  powers  and  duties  of 
government. 

The  increase  of  population  called  for  a  new 
division  of  territory.  In  1757  Westerly  was 
divided  and  its  northern  portion  incorporated 
under  the  name  of  Hopkinton,  a  choice  of  name 
which  shows  that  in  that  legislature  the  Hopkins 
party  was  in  the  majority.  Two  years  later  the 
new  town  of  Johnston  was  formed  out  of  Provi- 
dence and  named  after  the  attorney-general. 


CHAPTEE  XXII. 

RETROSPECT.— ENCROACHMENTS  OF  ENGLAND. — RESISTANCE 
TO  THE  REVENUE  LAWS. — STAMP  ACT.— SECOND  CONGRESS 
OF  COLONIES  MET  IN  NEW  YORK. — EDUCATIONAL  INTEREST. 

THUS  far  we  have  traced  the  progress  of  Rhode 
Island,  step  by  step  from  the  first  small  settle- 
ment on  the  banks  of  the  Mooshausick  to  the 
flourishing  Colony,  which,  by  its  firmness  and 
perseverance  had  made  it  mistress  of  the  shores 
and  islands  of  Narragansett  Bay.  We  have  seen 
it  taking  for  its  corner  stone  a  vital  principle  of 
human  society,  unrecognized  as  yet  by  the  most 
advanced  civilization.  We  have  seen  this  princi- 
ple and  society  with  it  constantly  endangered  by 
misinterpretations,  and  the  little  Colony  brought 
more  than  once  to  the  brink  of  the  precipice  by 
the  malignity  of  implacable  enemies.  We  have 
seen  it  gradually  growing  in  strength  and  en- 
lightenment, drawing  abundant  harvests  from  a 
niggard  soil,  spreading  its  ships  of  commerce 
over  distant  seas  and  protecting  its  coasts  by  its 
own  ships  of  war.  We  have  seen  it  working  out 
its  civil  organization  by  patient  experiment,  mak- 
ing laws  and  unmaking  them  as  they  met  or 
failed  to  meet  the  want  for  which  they  were 
made.  And  now  we  shall  see  her  strong  by  vir- 


184  HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

tue,  resolute  by  conviction  and  rich  by  intelligent 
industry,  gird  herself  up  for  the  contest  which 
was  to  decide  forever  the  relations  of  the  British 
colonies  of  North  America  to  their  mother  coun- 
try. But  before  we  enter  upon  this  part  of  our 
subject  let  us  pause  a  moment  and  consider  some- 
what more  closely  our  new  starting  point. 

The  society  which  Roger  Williams  brought 
with  him  to  the  banks  of  the  Mooshausick  was  a 
morally  constituted  society,  in  which  all  the 
questions  of  moral  law  had  been  studied  and  dis- 
cussed as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures.  It  was  not 
till  their  numbers  increased  and  their  wants  with 
them  that  the  idea  of  law  took  root  amongst  them 
and  they  became  a  legally  constituted  society. 
Their  laws  arose  from  their  necessities  and  fol- 
lowed the  development  of  their  legal  sense.  They 
felt  the  want  and  strove  by  experiment  to  discover 
the  remedy.  Successful  experiment  became  law 
and  the  statute  book  the  record  of  the  progress 
of  civilization. 

To  this  statute  book,  therefore,  we  must  go  for 
our  knowledge  of  colonial  life  in  all  its  relations. 
It  defines  the  condition  of  the  individual  and  the 
qualifications,  the  rights  and  the  duties  of  the 
citizen.  It  defines  the  powers  and  prerogatives 
of  government,  and  assigns  to  each  department 
its  limits  and  its  sphere.  Its  enumeration  of  crime 
is  the  key  to  the  moral  sense  of  the  community, 
and  its  provisions  for  the  moral  and  intellectual 
training  of  the  citizen  show  how  far  it  has  com- 


HISTORY   OF   EHODE  ISLAND.  185 

preliended  the  reciprocal  obligations  and  true 
nature  of  the  ties  which  bind  the  citizen  to  his 
commonwealth. 

Following  this  guide  we  find  that  Rhode  Island 
has  worked  out  her  problem  of  self-government 
and  soul  liberty,  framing  for  herself  a  pure  de- 
mocracy and  surrounding  it  with  all  the  pro- 
visions required  for  protection  against  foreign 
violence  and  internal  dissension.  After  many 
trials  she  has  organized  a  judiciary  system  ade- 
quate to  the  protection  of  person  and  property 
and  the  prompt  administration  of  justice.  She 
has  cultivated  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong  and 
made  careful  provision  for  the  enforcement  of 
contracts  and  the  punishment  of  crimes.  She  has 
opened  highways,  established  ferries  and  built 
bridges.  She  has  favored  navigation  by  the  in- 
stitution of  judicious  harbor  laws.  She  has  pro- 
vided for  the  extermination  of  wolves  and  foxes 
by  the  offer  of  liberal  bounties,  and  for  the  pro- 
tection of  fish  and  deer  by  stringent  laws.  She 
has  broached  the  difficult  subject  of  public  char- 
ities and  made  a  beginning  of  provision  for  the 
poor  and  the  insane.  She  has  initiated  a  system 
of  public  schools  and  founded  a  college  which  in 
the  course  of  half  a  century  becomes  a  univer- 
sity. She  has  opened  her  doors  wide  for  differ- 
ent creeds,  and  required  only  that  they  all  should 
be  equally  free. 

Her  relations  with  the  mother  country  had 
taken  their  coloring  from  the  attitude  of  self- 
defence  which  she  was  compelled  to  maintain 


186  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

towards  the  adjacent  colonies  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut,  which  were  eager  to  divide  her 
territory  between  them.  Against  their  long  per- 
secutions her  last  appeal  was  to  the  King,  and 
she  made  it  without  humbling  herself,  for  her 
enemy  was  at  her  own  door  and  of  her  own  house- 
hold. 

From  the  beginning  of  her  civil  life  she  had 
been  contemptuously  refused  admission  to  the 
league  from  which  Massachusetts  and  Connecti- 
cut derived  the  strength  that  made  them  bold 
both  for  aggression  and  for  defence.  More  than 
once  she  seemed  to  be  upon  the  point  of  being 
crushed,  but  of  yielding — never.  Hence  in  her 
relations  with  the  mother  country  she  never 
assumed  the  defiant  attitude  which  her  stronger 
sisters  assumed  and  which  at  an  early  day  awak- 
ened suspicions  of  their  loyalty.  Rhode  Island 
was  loyal  as  it  behooved  her  to  be  ;  but  she  never 
carried  her  loyalty  so  far  as  to  imperil  the  rights 
guaranteed  to  her  fay  her  charter. 

We  enter  upon  a  new  period  of  colonial  history. 
The  contest  with  France  was  over.  The  contest 
with  England  was  beginning.  For  England,  not 
satisfied  with  the  advantage  which  she  had  de- 
rived from  her  colonies  by  constitutional  means, 
resolved  to  deprive  them  of  the  protection  which 
the  constitution  accorded  to  the  humblest  subject 
of  the  crown.  They  would  gladly  have  contrib- 
uted their  portion  to  the  expenses  of  the  war  and 
taxed  themselves  to  pay  it.  But  English  constitu- 
tional law  had  prescribed  the  forms  and  conditions 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  187 

with  which  taxes  could  be  raised,  and  colonial 
constitutional  law  taught  that  representation  was 
an  essential  condition  of  taxation.  This  led  to  the 
stamp  act  and  that  train  of  disasters  so  fatal  to 
English  supremacy. 

Equally  fatal  was  the  ill-timed  jealousy  with 
which  she  sought  to  fetter  the  commerce  and 
check  the  manufacturing  spirit  of  the  colonists. 
It  was  from  their  commerce  with  the  French 
islands  that  they  drew  not  only  many  articles 
which  habit  had  made  essential  to  their  comfort, 
but  the  greater  part  of  their  hard  money.  To 
England  they  sent  their  raw  material,  and  receiv- 
ing it  back  in  the  shape  of  manufactured  goods 
paid  liberally  for  the  English  labor  and  skill. 
England's  best  customers  were  her  colonies. 

War  had  been  a  severe  school  in  which  much 
needed  lessons  had  been  learned.  Farmers  and 
mechanics  had  learned  to  be  soldiers  and  bear  the 
hardships  of  a  soldier's  life.  Taxes  had  increased 
and  legislation  had  been  compelled  to  busy  itself 
largely  with  questions  of  military  organization, 
with  the  building  of  forts,  the  raising  of  recruits, 
the  providing  of  supplies.  Maritime  enterprise 
had  lost  none  of  its  ardor,  but  had  encountered 
sore  rebuffs.  From  the  port  of  Providence  alone 
forty  nine  vessels  richly  laden  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  On  the  land,  also, 
many  valuable  lives  had  been  lost  and  many  in- 
dustrious hands  taken  from  the  tilling  of  the  soil 
to  waste  their  strength  in  the  barren  offices  of 


188  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

war.  The  time  when  these  lessons  would  be 
turned  to  account  was  drawing  nigh. 

Meanwhile  internal  improvements  continued  to 
receive  the  attention  of  the  legislature.  Church's 
Harbor  was  made  safer  for  fishermen  by  the  erec- 
tion of  a  breakwater.  Providence  Cove  was  the 
seat  of  a  prosperous  trade,  and  especially  of  ship- 
building. To  facilitate  the  communication  with 
the  water  below  a  draw  was  opened  in  Wey- 
bosset  bridge. 

The  cancer  of  paper  money  was  still  eating 
into  the  vitals  of  the  community,  in  spite  of  the 
legislative  palliatives  which  were  from  time  to 
time  fruitlessly  applied  to  it.  Party  spirit  also 
had  reached  its  fullest  development,  and  the  two 
rival  factions  of  Ward  and  Hopkins  continued  to 
hate  each  other  bitterly  and  fight  each  other  ob- 
stinately at  the  polls.  These  were  minor  evils. 
But  in  the  great  northwest  new  war  clouds  were 
gathering  under  the  influence  of  the  mighty  Pon- 
tiac,  its  king  and  lord.  Parliament  prepared  for 
the  outbreak,  and  voted  an  appropriation  of  a 
hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  pounds  and  an 
army  of  ten  thousand  men  for  the  defence  of  the 
American  colonies.  The  regulars  were  sent  against 
the  Indians  and  parts  of  the  provincials  were  dis- 
tributed through  the  frontier  garrisons.  The 
Rhode  Islanders  were  stationed  at  Fort  Stanwix. 
We  are  spared  the  story  of  the  war  of  Pontiac. 
It  belongs  to  the  frontier  and  is  in  no  way  con- 
nected with  Rhode  Island  history.  Another  con- 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  189 

test  on  which  hung  the  fate  of  all  the  colonies  is 
already  begun. 

I  have  often  spoken  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and 
the  jealous  scrutiny  with  which  it  watched  the 
growth  of  the  colonies.  Too  short-sighted  to  see 
that  their  prosperity  was  intimately  connected 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  mother  country,  the 
ministry  by  advice  of  the  Board  of  Trade  drew 
tight  the  bands  of  commerce  and  encumbered 
the  communications  of  the  two  countries  with 
dangerous  restraints.  Trade  had  increased,  but 
the  revenue  had  not  increased  in  its  natural  pro- 
portion. The  form  of  the  evil  was  smuggling,  but 
its  root  was  the  imposition  of  oppressive  duties. 
Walpole  alone  had  seen  forty  years  before  that 
the  surest  way  to  enlarge  the  revenue  was  to 
make  the  importation  of  the  raw  material  and 
the  exportation  of  the  manufactured  goods  as 
easy  as  possible.  But  Walpole  stood  alone  in 
his  wisdom.  An  attempt  was  made  to  enforce 
the  acts  of  trade.  New  officers  were  appointed, 
a  ship  of  war  was  stationed  in  Newport  harbor 
during  the  winter  of  1763  and  the  noisome  tribe  of 
revenue  officers  stimulated  to  zealous  exertion. 

In  1739  a  heavy  blow  had  been  dealt  the  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  industry  of  the  colo- 
nies by  the  molasses  and  sugar  act,  imposing  a 
duty  on  those  articles  which  looked  very  much 
like  taxation.  The  colonists  looked  anxiously  to 
1764  when  the  odious  act  would  expire  by  limita- 
tion. But  when  the  time  came  it  was  promptly 


190  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

h 

renewed  and  extended  to  other  articles  of  domes- 
tic consumption.  And  now  was  first  heard  the 
ominous  words  stamp  act  and  committees  of  cor- 
respondence. By  the  stamp  act  no  legal  or  com- 
mercial act  was  valid  unless  it  was  written  on 
stamped  paper.  The  price  of  this  paper  was 
fixed  by  government  and  a  body  of  agents  ap- 
pointed to  carry  on  the  sale.  Thus  every  transac- 
tion in  which  there  was  a  legal  form  became 
tributary  to  government.  In  what  does  this 
differ  from  taxation  without  representation  ? 
asked  the  colonists.  But  so  little  did  government 
comprehend  the  real  nature  of  what  it  was  doing 
that  instead  of  foreseeing  the  collision  of  the  two 
constitutions  Parliament  assumed  b}~  a  formal 
vote  the  right  to  tax  the  colonies.  All  that  re- 
monstrance could  gain  was  a  postponement  of  the 
stamp  act  till  some  more  acceptable  form  of  im- 
post could  be  devised.  Even  the  colonial  agents 
in  London  failed  to  see  that  a  radical  change  in 
the  relations  of  the  two  countries  was  at  hand. 
"The  sun  of  liberty  is  set,"  wrote  Franklin  from 
London  to  Charles  Thompson  at  Philadelphia. 
"The  Americans  must  light  the  candles  of  in- 
dustry and  economy." 

"They  will  light  a  very  different  kind  of  can- 
dle," was  the  reply. 

The  spirit  of  resistance  gained  strength  daily. 
Massachusetts  took  the  lead  in  recommending 
the  call  of  a  Congress  of  Delegates  to  meet  at  Xew 
York  and  take  counsel  concerning  the  condition 


HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  191 

of  the  country.  Rhode  Island  followed  close  in 
her  footsteps.  In  Virginia  Patrick  Henry  brought 
forward  a  series  of  resolutions  which  going  di- 
rectly to  the  fundamental  principles  of  constitu- 
tional taxation  found  adherents  everywhere.  In 
Providence  the  Gazette  reappeared  in  an  extra 
number  with  "  vox  populi  vox  Dei"  for  super- 
scription, and  "where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
there  is  Liberty,"  for  motto.  Augustus  Johnston, 
the  attorney-general,  was  appointed  stamp  distrib- 
utor, but  refused  to  "execute  his  office  against 
the  will  of  our  sovereign  Lord  the  People." 

In  Newport  riots  took  place  and  popular  feel- 
ing manifested  itself  with  extreme  violence.  The 
effigies  of  three  obnoxious  citizens  were  kept 
hanging  on  a  gallows  in  front  of  the  court  house 
througli  the  day,  and  in  the  evening  cut  down 
and  burned  in  the  presence  of  a  great  crowd.  Next 
morning  the  violence  of  the  mob  increased,  the 
obnoxious  three  and  equally  obnoxious  revenue 
officers  were  compelled  to  take  refuge  on  board 
the  Cygnet  sloop-of-war  that  was  lying  in  the 
harbor. 

Meanwhile  a  calm,  firm  voice  came  from  the 
soberer  and  more  thoughtful  citizens  assembled 
in  town  meeting,  instructing  their  deputies  to 
give  their  "  utmost  attention  to  those  important 
objects,  the  court  of  admiralty  and  the  act  for 

levying  stamp  duties." "It  is  for 

liberty,  that  liberty  for  which  our  fathers  fought, 


192  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

that  liberty  which  is  dearer  to  a  generous  mind 
than  life  itself  that  we  now  contend." 

The  day  for  the  enforcement  of  the  stamp  act 
came.  But  the  Congress  at  New  York  and  the 
town  meetings  and  assemblies  of  the  diiferent 
colonies  had  done  their  work  thoroughly.  In  a 
session  of  the  Assembly  held  at  East  Greenwich, 
Rhode  Island  declared  her  intention  to  assert  her 
"rights  and  privileges  with  becoming  freedom 

and  spirit, and  to  express  these 

sentiments  in  the  strongest  manner."  Six  ener- 
getic resolutions  were  passed  pointing  unequivo- 
cally at  independence  if  grievances  were  not  re- 
dressed. The  grave  duty  of  representing  her  in 
the  New  York  Congress  was  entrusted  to  Henry 
"Ward,  colonial  secretary,  and  Metcalf  Bowler. 
Governor  Ward,  Governor  Fitch,  of  Connecticut, 
and  the  Ro}-al  Governors  were  called  upon  to 
make  oath  that  they  would  support  the  obnoxious 
act.  Samuel  Ward  alone  refused. 

The  fatal  day  came,  and  with  its  inauspicious 
dawn  legal  life  ceased.  Ships  lay  idle  at  the 
wharves  for  want  of  clearance.  Merchants  could 
not  fill  an  invoice,  the  officers  of  the  law  could 
not  enforce  its  decrees.  Men  and  women  could  not 
marry  or  be  given  in  marriage.  Civil  life  was  para- 
lyzed in  all  its  functions.  Whither  will  this  lead 
us  ?  was  the  question  that  rose  to  every  lip.  It 
was  soon  evident  that  the  colonies  were  terribly  in 
earnest.  They  would  rely  upon  personal  honesty 
and  do  without  stamps.  Mobs  and  riots  showed 


HISTOKY   OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  193 

to  what  lengths  the  heated  popular  mind  was 
prepared  to  go.  Engagements  to  suspend  all 
commercial  intercourse  with  England  and  employ 
their  means  in  fostering  their  own  manufactures 
and  productions  manifested  an  intelligent  union 
of  purpose  which  could  not  be  mistaken.  Of  the 
stamp  distributors  some  resigned,  some  refused 
to  act.  Throughout  the  whole  country,  in  town 
and  village  not  a  stamp  was  to  be  found,  not  an 
agent  dared  to  receive  or  sell  the  hateful  ware. 
England  bowed  to  the  blast  and  repealed  the  act, 
but  as  if  to  leave  the  way  open  for  future  taxa- 
tion coupled  the  appeal  with  an  act  declaring  that 
Parliament  had  a  right  "to  bind  the  colonies  in 
all  cases  whatsoever."  The  wound  was  salved 
over,  not  healed. 

There  were  other  subjects  of  collision.  We 
have  seen  that  British  ships  of  war  visiting  New- 
port harbor  were  sometimes  welcomed.  Some- 
times, however,  they  were  held  to  strict  account 
for  their  conduct.  Lieutenant  Hill,  of  the  schooner 
St.  John,  was  fired  into  from  Fort  George  for  some 
unrecorded  offence.  In  the  following  year  the 
Maidstone  roused  the  indignation  of  the  inhabi- 
tants by  impressing  seamen  openly  in  the  harbor. 
Even  market  boats  were  stopped  and  their  men 
taken  violently  from  them.  A  ship  from  the 
coast  was  boarded  as  she  entered  the  harbor  and 
her  crew  impressed.  Popular  forbearance  could 
go  no  further.  In  the  evening  a  mob  of  sailors 
five  hundred  strong  seized  one  of  the  Maidstone' s 

13 


194  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

boats  and  burned  it  on  the  common.  The  way 
was  opening  for  the  burning  of  the  Gaspee. 

Meanwhile  there  were  great  rejoicings  over  the 
repeal  of  the  stamp  act.  Very  soon  men  will 
begin  to  look  closely  to  the  act  that  was  tacked 
to  it — the  declaratory  act. 

The  great  step  towards  securing  the  concurrent 
action  of  the  colonies  in  their  resistance  was 
taken.  On  the  7th  of  October,  1765,  the  second 
colonial  Congress  met  in  Xew  York,  and  after  a 
three  weeks  earnest  discussion  sent  forth  an  ad- 
dress to  the  King,  an  address  to  the  people,  and 
a  memorial  to  both  houses  of  Parliament,  claim- 
ing that  as  Englishmen  they  could  not  be  taxed 
without  their  own  consent  or  deprived  of  the 
right  of  trial  by  jury.  It  was  soon  made  evident 
that  the  country  would  stand  by  them.  Associ- 
ations were  formed  under  the  name  of  "Sons  of 
liberty. ' '  Rhode  Island  went  a  step  further,  and 
formed  associations  of  the  "Daughters  of  Lib- 
erty." Hitherto  the  correspondence  with  the 
colonies  had  been  conducted  by  the  Board  of 
Trade.  But  as  the  dispute  assumed  a  more  defi- 
nite shape,  the  infatuated  King,  who  was  reso- 
lutely persisting  in  his  unconstitutional  scheme 
of  personal  government,  gave  orders  that  the 
colonial  dispatches  should  be  addressed  to  him. 

It  has  been  seen  that  Parliament  had  resolved 
to  indemnify  the  colonies  for  their  expenses  dur- 
ing the  late  war.  Several  payments  for  this  pur- 
pose had  already  been  made.  But  after  the  stamp 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  195 

act  riots  the  balance  though,  voted  was  withheld 
under  the  pretext  that  the  sufferers  by  those 
riots  should  first  be  indemnified  for  their  losses. 
As  the  Colony  had  exerted  itself  beyond  its 
strength  to  bear  its  part  in  the  war,  this  with- 
holding of  its  just  compensation  was  felt  to  be  a 
great  wrong.  When  the  day  for  summing  up 
her  share  in  the  common  grievances  came,  Rhode 
Island  did  not  forget  this  wrong. 

Taxes  continued  to  excite  bitter  complaints,  and 
though  called  for  to  meet  the  daily  wants  of  gov- 
ernment, were  not  collected  without  great  diffi- 
culty. In  1767  this  dissatisfaction  reached  its 
height,  unseating  Governor  Ward  and  working  a 
complete  political  revolution.  A  new  valuation 
of  ratable  property  was  made  to  serve  as  the  basis 
of  a  just  taxation,  but  was  opposed  as  favoring 
trade  at  the  expense  of  the  landholders. 

Among  the  laws  demanded  by  the  growing 
trade  was  an  act  fixing  interest  at  six  per  cent., 
and  making  contracts  for  higher  rates  usury  to 
be  punished  by  the  forfeiture  of  principal  and 
interest.  The  true  nature  of  money  loans  was 
not  yet  understood.  Among  the  important  civil 
acts  of  this'period  was  the  completion  of  an  elab- 
orate digest  of  the  laws,  two  hundred  copies  of 
which  were  printed  and  distributed  among  the 
people. 

We  have  seen  that  early  attention  was  given  to 
education,  and  schools  opened  in  Newport,  Ports- 
mouth and  Providence.  In  1766  a  grammar 


196  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

school  was  founded  in  Exeter  upon  a  gift  of  five 
hundred  acres  of  land  made  seventy  years  before 
by  Samuel  Sewall,  of  Boston,  one  of  the  original 
purchasers  of  Pettaquamscot.  But  more  impor- 
tant still  was  the  effort  that  was  made  about  the 
same  time  for  the  establishment  of  free  schools 
in  Providence  to  be  supported  by  taxation.  Like 
all  such  movements  it  met  with  most  opposition 
where  such  schools  were  most  needed,  among  the 
poor.  In  part,  however,  it  was  successful,  a  brick 
school-house  was  built  and  the  supervision  of  all 
the  schools  given  to  a  committee  of  nine,  com- 
posed in  part  of  the  town  council. 

The  foundation  of  a  university,  chiefly  in 
order  to  secure  for  Baptists  the  same  educational 
advantages  that  were  enjoyed  by  other  denomi- 
nations, also  belongs  to  this  period.  Foremost 
among  its  founders  was  the  Rev.  Morgan  Ed- 
wards, and  among  its  benefactors  John  Brown,  of 
Providence,  in  record  of  whose  liberality  it  was 
removed  from  Warren,  its  first  seat,  to  Provi- 
dence, and  its  name  changed  from  Rhode  Island 
College  to  Brown  University.  Four  denomina- 
tions were  represented  in  its  corporation,  but  a 
large  majority  reserved  to  its  founders,  the  Bap- 
tists. Religious  tests  were  forbidden  by  charter, 
but  the  president  was  required  to  be  a  Baptist. 
Its  property  and  all  those  connected  officially 
with  it  were  exempted  from  taxation. 

To  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  period  be- 
longs the  Warren  Association  of  Baptist  Churches. 


HISTORY    OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  197 

The  pen  also  claims  its  part  in  the  discussion  of 
rights,  and  among  the  causes  of  the  rupture  we 
must  count  the  "Farmer's  Letters,"  among  its 
instruments  committees  of  correspondence. 

Among  the  things  effecting  the  material  inter- 
ests of  the  Colony  was  the  discovery  of  a  new 
bed  of  iron  ore  on  the  Pawtuxet  River,  in  Crans- 
ton. In  the  preparations  which  were  immedi- 
ately made  for  working  it,  the  rights  of  the  fish, 
which  had  so  often  been  the  subject  of  legislation, 
were  not  forgotten. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

TRANSIT  OF  VENUS.— A  STRONG  DISLIKE  TO  ENGLAND  MORE 
OPENLY  EXPRESSED.  —  NON-IMPORTATION  AGREEMENT.  — 
INTRODUCTION  OF  SLAVES  PROHIBITED. — CAPTURE  OF  THE 
GASPEE. 

THE  feud  of  the  two  parties  which  had  so  long 
divided  the  Colony  ceased  at  the  approach  of 
danger  from  abroad.  A  new  Governor  was  elected, 
Josias  Lyndon,  and  a  new  Deputy-Governor, 
Nicholas  Cooke,  whose  name  meets  us  so  honor- 
ably during  the  first  years  of  the  war,  now  close 
at  hand.  For  Ward  and  Hopkins  a  broader  field 
of  honorable  rivalry  was  opening,  and  we  shall 
soon  see  them  working  earnestly  together  in  the 
Congress  of  the  Declaration. 

England  had  grown  very  angry  over  the  at- 
tempts of  the  colonies  to  organize  a  system  of 
concerted  action.  But  the  times  were  full  of 
lessons,  and  the  chiefest  and  most  heeded  among 
them  was  the  lesson  of  union.  The  Parliament 
of  1761  was  as  blind  as  its  predecessors  had  been, 
and  came  together  firmly  resolved  to  chastise  the 
Americans  into  obedience.  Where  both  sides 
were  equally  suspicious  and  equally  embittered 
positive  collision  could  not  long  be  avoided.  The 
first  occurred  in  Newport  harbor  between  three 


HISTOEY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  199 

midshipmen  of  the  Senegal  man-of-war  which 
was  lying  in  the  harbor,  and  some  of  the  citizens. 
A  citizen,  Henry  Sparker,  was  run  through  the 
body  by  an  officer  named  Thomas  Careless.  Care- 
less was  indicted  for  murder,  but  acquitted  on 
trial  by  the  Superior  Court  on  the  plea  of  self- 
defence.  Collisions  occurred  at  Boston,  all  of 
which  served  to  fan  the  flame  of  discontent.  To 
hasten  the  crisis  a  regiment  supported  by  a  naval 
force  was  sent  to  overawe  the  rebellious  town. 

At  the  June  session  of  the  General  Assembly 
(1758)  an  address  was  voted  to  John  Dickinson 
for  his  ' '  Letters  of  a  Farmer. ' '  In  closing  it  they 
"hope  that  the  conduct  of  the  colonies  on  this 
occasion  will  be  peaceable,  prudent,  firm  and 
joint. ' '  Resistance  was  becoming  a  familiar  idea, 
and  one  of  the  most  significant  ways  of  express- 
ing it  was  by  liberty  trees.  A  large  elm  in  front 
of  Olney's  tavern,  in  Providence,  was  dedicated 
in  the  presence  of  an  enthusiastic  crowd,  and  an 
oration  embodying  the  popular  sentiment  pro- 
nounced by  Silas  Downer. 

In  the  September  session  several  important 
State  papers  were  prepared,  and  the  withholding 
of  the  war  money  complained  of  as  a  great  injus- 
tice. Still  in  the  midst  of  this  growing  disloyalty 
the  King  was  always  spoken  of  with  affection  and 
respect. 

While  attention  was  thus  anxiously  directed 
to  England,  purely  domestic  interests  were  not 
forgotten.  The  deputy-governor's  salary  was 


200  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

fixed  at  fifteen  pounds,  half  that  of  the  gov- 
ernor. An  educational  society  was  incorporated 
at  Providence  under  the  name  of  Whipple  Hall. 
Laws  relative  to  real  estate  were  passed,  making 
it  liable  for  debt  after  the  death  of  the  holder. 
School  and  church  lands  were  exempted  from 
taxation,  and  Trinity  Church,  in  Newport,  was  in- 
corporated, the  first  incorporation  of  a  church  in 
Rhode  Island.  An  act  was  passed,  also,  wherein 
the  old  policy  of  protecting  the  river  fish  was 
changed,  and  the  Scituate  Furnace  Company  al- 
lowed to  keep  up  the  dam  in  the  spring.  In  a 
previous  year  a  general  estimate  of  ratable 
estates  had  been  ordered.  In  1769  it  was  re- 
ported and  found  to  amount  to  two  million  one 
hundred  and  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and 
ninety-five  pounds  ten  shillings  and  sevenpence, 
or  seven  million  thirty-seven  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two  dollars,  at  the  current  value 
of  lawful  money,  six  shillings  to  a  dollar,  which 
was  made  by  statute  the  basis  of  taxation 

This  was  the  year  of  the  transit  of  Venus,  to 
which  astronomers  were  looking  forward  with 
deep  interest.  In  this  band  of  observers  Rhode 
Island  was  represented  by  Governor  Hopkins  and 
other  unprofessional  scientists  in  Providence,  and 
by  Ezra  Stiles  of  Newport — and  here  we  again 
meet  the  name  of  Abraham  Redwood,  who  was 
never  either  governor  or  deputy-governor,  but 
still  lives  in  fresh  remembrance  as  founder  of  the 
Redwood  Librarv.  He  furnished  the  instruments 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  201 

for  the  Newport  observation.  The  local  memory 
of  this  event  is  still  preserved  in  Providence  by 
the  name  of  the  street  in  which  the  observatory 
stood.  The  latitude  of  Providence  was  found  to 
be  41°,  50',  41"  ;  its  longitude  71°,  16'  west  from 
Greenwich. 

Meanwhile  the  current  was  daily  sitting  more 
decidedly  towards  armed  resistance.  Opinions 
which  four  years  before  had  been  cautiously 
whispered  in  corners,  now  formed  the  chief  topic 
of  declamation  in  every  private  and  public  gather- 
ing. Virginia  passed  unanimously  another  series 
of  resolutions  more  decided  than  the  first,  and 
sent  copies  of  them  to  every  colonial  assembly. 
Rhode  Island  thanked  her  through  the  Governor. 
The  Wilkes  riots  in  London  strengthened  the 
hands  of  the  opposition,  and  Lord  Hillsborough 
gave  assurance  at  a  meeting  of  several  colonial 
agents  that  the  idea  of  drawing  a  revenue  from 
America  had  been  given  up,  and  the  offensive 
revenue  act  would  in  all  but  the  tax  on  tea  be 
repealed.  Ministers  failed  to  see  that  it  was  an 
inherent  right,  not  a  sum  of  money  for  which 
the  colonists  were  contending.  And  in  this  con- 
tention they  were  prepared  to  go  all  lengths. 

There  was  smuggling  it  was  true,  and  thereby 
a  constant  loss  to  the  revenue,  but  the  method  of 
enforcing  the  revenue  laws  was  vexatious  and 
intolerable  to  a  free  people.  The  officers  em- 
ployed in  collecting  the  revenue  belonged  to  a 
class  immemoriably  odious,  and  even  where  the 


202  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

collection  was  entrusted  to  officers  of  the  Royal 
Navy  it  was  conducted  with  an  insolence  and  dis- 
regard of  the  rights  and  feelings  of  the  colonists 
which  made  it  doubly  odious.  Things  had 
already  reached  the  pass  at  which  compromises 
become  impossible.  Either  the  King  or  the  peo- 
ple must  yield.  Fortunately  for  mankind  victory 
was  where  the  young  fresh  life  lay,  with  the 
colonists. 

Among  those  who  had  made  themselves  most 
offensive  in  their  endeavors  to  suppress  the  con- 
traband trade  was  Captain  William  Reid,  of  the 
armed  sloop  Liberty,  which  was  cruising  in  qi 
of  smugglers  in  Long  Island  Sound  and  Xarra- 
gansett  Bay.  Under  the  pretext  of  putting  down 
illicit  trade  he  had  sorely  annoyed  legitimate 
commerce.  After  bearing  with  his  annoyances 
till  they  could  be  borne  no  longer,  the  people  of 
Newport  seized  his  vessel,  scuttled  and  sank  her, 
cut  down  her  mast  and  burnt  her  boat.  This  was 
the  first  overt  act  of  the  War  of  Independence. 
Proclamations  were  issued  and  rewards  offered, 
but  the  offenders  were  never  detected.  Another 
wrong  inflicted  by  the  revenue  officers  was  in 
claiming  higher  fees  than  were  allowed  by  law. 
After  bearing  this  also  till  their  patience  gave 
out,  the  merchants  of  Newport  banded  together 
to  resist  the  imposition. 

The  question  of  renewing  the  non-importation 
agreement  came  up  for  decision.  Xew  York, 
which  on  this  occasion  had  taken  the  lead,  was 


HISTOKY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  203 


for  extending  them  "indefinitely  until  every 
portion  of  the  revenue  act  shall  be  repealed." 
Boston  followed  the  example.  In  Providence 
and  throughout  the  country  opinion  was  divided, 
but  after  much  discussion  nearly  all  concurred 
in  admitting  everything  but  tea,  and  Newport 
brought  down  the  indignation  of  the  other  colo- 
nies upon  her  by  admitting  prohibited  articles. 

In  these  same  days  the  chronicle  records  a 
murrain  among  the  cattle  and  hydrophobia  among 
the  dogs.  From  the  first,  relief  was  sought  by 
forbidding  the  exportation  of  cattle  from  the 
island,  from  the  last  by  giving  general  leave  to 
kill  all  dogs  running  at  large.  These  acts  were 
to  hold  good  for  four  months. 

This  was  the  period  of  Newport's  greatest 
prosperity.  Her  population  was  over  eleven 
thousand.  She  had  seventeen  manufactories  of 
sperm  oil  and  candles,  five  rope-walks,  three 
sugar  refineries,  one  brewery  and  twenty-two  dis- 
tilleries of  rum,  an  article  which  in  those  days 
was  deemed  essential  to  the  health  of  the  sailor 
and  the  soldier,  and  all  hard  working  men.  Her 
foreign  commerce  found  employment  for  nearly 
two  hundred  ships,  her  domestic  trade  for  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred  coasting  craft.  A 
regular  line  of  packets  kept  open  her  communi- 
cations with  London  for  passengers  and  mails. 
Her  society  had  never  lost  the  intellectual  im 
pulse  given  it  by  Berkeley.  Ezra  Stiles,  the  most 
learned  American  of  his  day,  filled  one  of  her 


204  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

pulpits,  Samuel  Hopkins,  the  founder  of  a  new 
school  of  theology,  another.  A  public  library, 
which  still  bears  the  name  of  its  founder,  fur- 
nished the  means  of  literary  recreation  and  re- 
search. She  would  gladly  have  drawn  Rhode 
Island  College  to  herself  also,  but  though  great 
efforts  were  made  to  bring  this  about  Providence 
made  the  better  offer  and  obtained  the  preference. 

While  this  question  was  still  under  discussion 
the  first  Commencement  came  round.  Seven 
young  men,  clad  like  their  officers  in  the  products 
of  American  looms,  presented  themselves  for 
graduation.  It  was  a  holiday  in  which  all  citi- 
zens could  heartily  unite,  for  it  was  the  only  one 
which  brought  them  together  in  the  gratification 
of  a  common  pride.  Commencement  Day  and 
Election  Day  continued  to  be  the  gathering  days 
of  the  Colony  long  after  the  Colony  had  become 
a  State. 

The  greater  part  of  the  slaves  of  the  Colony 
were  in  Newport,  and  special  laws  were  enacted 
concerning  their  general  treatment  and  their  man- 
umission. In  the  autumn  session  of  1770  these 
laws  were  revised,  and  a  bill  introduced  prohibit- 
ing their  further  importation.  Unfortunately 
this  movement  went  no  farther.  The  evil  had 
struck  too  deep. 

There  was  a  lull  in  the  storm.  Even  men  not 
used  to  indulge  vain  hopes  began  to  think  that 
the  cloud  which  had  so  long  darkened  the  hori- 
zon might  pass  away.  The  revenue  acts  were 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  205 

still  the  chief  obstacles  to  harmony.  Smugglers 
were  as  bold  and  as  successful  as  ever.  But 
nothing  occurred  in  1771  to  show  that  the  final 
rupture  was  so  near.  Rhode  Island's  peculiar 
grievance  was  the  old  war  debt-  To  make  one 
more  effort,  Henry  Marchant,  the  new  attorney- 
general,  was  directed  to  join  Sherwood  in  enforcing 
the  claim.  Another  old  question  was  also  revived, 
that  of  the  northern  boundary.  Among  the  acts 
of  the  Assembly  was  a  new  bankrupt  law.  The 
evils  of  a  paper  currency  still  continued  to  bear 
their  fruit. 

But  one  of  the  most  dangerous  movements  of 
this  year  was  a  claim  advanced  by  Governor 
Hutchinson  to  the  command  of  the  Rhode  Island 
forts  and  militia.  This  claim  Rhode  Island  had 
contested  when  advanced  by  former  governors, 
nor  was  she  disposed  to  yield  to  it  now.  Still 
less  was  she  disposed  to  accept  a  proposal 
which  at  this  time  came  from  Bristol  under  the 
signature,  "A  Friend  to  Property,"  to  divide 
Rhode  Island  between  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut, or  ask  that  she  should  be  made  a  royal 
government  upon  the  ground  that  "an  elective 
legislature  must  always  be  a  source  of  disorder 
and  corruption  "  in  a  small  state. 

That  Rhode  Island  was  not  disorderly  nor  cor- 
rupt was  proved  by  the  conduct  of  her  courts. 
A  merchant  of  Wrentham  named  David  Hill 
was  detected  by  the  New  York  Committee  of  In- 
spection "in  selling  goods  included  in  the  non- 


206  HISTORY    OF   EHODE   ISLAND. 

importation  agreements."  By  the  persuasion  of 
the  committee  he  was  prevailed  upon  "  to  deposit 
his  goods  with  a  merchant  till  the  revenue  acts 
should  be  repealed."  But  the  suspicions  of  the 
people  were  excited,  and  they  seized  the  goods 
and  destroyed  them.  Hill  finding  in  Rhode 
Island  ' '  property  belonging  to  some  of  the  com- 
mittee," sued  them  in  the  Rhode  Island  courts, 
asserting  that  in  giving  up  his  goods  he  had  acted 
upon  compulsion.  The  sympathies  of  the  courts 
and  the  people  were  against  him.  But,  guided 
by  the  law  and  the  evidence  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  awarded  him  heavy  damages  and  the  Su- 
perior Court  confirmed  the  award.  In  the  next 
year  when  a  new  election  came  round  and  the 
voice  of  the  people  was  heard,  they  also  con- 
firmed it  by  reelecting  the  same  'men  for  judges. 
These  righteous  judges  were  Stephen  Hopkins, 
James  Helme,  Benoni  Hall,  Metcalf  Bowler  and 
Stephen  Potter. 

While  these  things  were  a  doing  the  insolence 
of  the  officials  employed  in  enforcing  the  revenue 
laws  reached  its  highest  point.  The  suppression 
of  smuggling  in  Narragansett  Bay  was  entrusted 
to  Lieutenant  Duddingston,  of  the  Royal  Navy, 
with  two  armed  vessels — the  Gaspee,  a  schooner 
of  eight  guns,  and  the  Beaver.  Not  contented 
with  performing  the  duties  of  his  office,  still 
vexatious  even  when  considerately  executed,  he 
multiplied  its  annoyances  by  a  thousand  acts  of 
petty  tyranny.  He  stopped  vessels  of  every 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  207 

kind  without  discrimination — ships  just  from 
sea,  and  market  boats  on  their  way  to  Providence 
and  Newport  with  their  perishable  freights,  and 
to  increase  the  indignity  refused  to  show  his 
commission  or  the  authority  by  which  he  .acted. 
Admiral  Montague,  who  commanded  on  the  sta- 
tion, justified  him  in  his  oppression.  Complaints 
were  sent  to  England,  but  the  day  of  complaint 
was  past. 

On  the  8th  of  June  the  sloop  Hannah,  Benja- 
min Lindsey,  master,  arrived  at  Newport  from 
New  York,  and  having  reported  at  the  custom 
house  set  sail  the  next  day  for  Providence.  No 
sooner  was  she  seen  from  the  deck  of  the  Gaspee 
than  the  watchful  servant  of  the  King  gave  chase, 
and  venturing  too  near  a  point  which  ran  out 
from  the  right  bank  of  the  river  took  ground. 
Captain  Lindsey  kept  on  his  course  with  the  wel- 
come tidings  that  the  common  enemy  was  at  bay. 
At  the  beat  of  the  drum  the  exasperated  citizens 
came  crowding  to  the  gathering  place,  James 
Sabin's  house  in  South  Main  Street.  Eight  long 
boats  with  five  oars  each  were  manned.  Powder 
was  prepared  and  bullets  run,  and  when  night  set 
in  with  its  friendly  shades  the  resolute  band  set 
forth  on  its  mission  of  vengeance. 

It  was  long  after  midnight  when  they  came 
within  sight  of  the  doomed  vessel  hard  set  in 
the  sand,  and  heard  the  first  hoarse  challenge  of 
the  guard.  Without  heeding  it  they  dashed  for- 
ward and  as  a  second  challenge  came  were  at  her 


208  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

side.  Duddingston  sprang  npon  the  gunwale- 
he  had  no  time  to  dress,  no  time  to  arm  himself 
or  call  his  men  to  quarters — but  as  he  stood  full 
in  view  his  figure  caught  the  eye  of  Joseph  Buck- 
lin  who  was  standing  on  one  of  the  main  thwarts. 
"Eph.,"  said  Bucklin  to  Ephraim  Bo  wen,  who 
was  sitting  on  the  thwart  on  which  Bucklin  was 
standing  and  who  lived  to  tell  the  story  in  his 
eighty-sixth  year,  "reach  me  your  gun,  I  can 
kill  that  fellow."  As  Eph.  was  reaching  him  the 
gun,  Whipple,  one  of  the  leaders  was  beginning 
to  answer  Duddingston' s  hail : — "  I  am  the  sheriff 
of  the  County  of  Kent,  God  damn  you," — but 
while  he  was  yet  speaking  Bucklin  fired  and 
Duddingston  fell,  wounded  in  the  stomach.  The 
surprise  was  complete.  The  crew  with  their 
wounded  commander  were  sent  ashore  and  the 
vessel  burned  to  the  water's  edge. 

Who  were  these  bold  men  ?  Everybody  in 
Providence  knew ;  but  although  large  rewards 
were  offered  for  their  detection  and  a  special  tri- 
bunal formed  to  try  them,  nobody  was  ever  found 
to  bear  witness  against  them.  So  deep  were  the 
feelings  that  prepared  the  way  for  the  separa- 
tion from  England. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

PROPOSITION  FOR  THE  UNION  OF  THE  COLONIES.  —  ACTIVE 
MEASURES  TAKEN  LOOKING  TOWARDS  INDEPENDENCE. — 
DELEGATES  ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS. — DESTRUCTION  OF  TEA 
AT  PROVIDENCE.— TROOPS  RAISED.— POSTAL  SYSTEM  ES- 
TABLISHED.— DEPREDATIONS  OF  THE  BRITISH.—"  GOD  SAVE 
THE  UNITED  COLONIES." 

THE  22d  of  June,  1772,  was  memorable  in  the 
history  of  humanity,  for  it  was  on  that  day  that 
Mansfield  solemnly  declared  as  Lord  Chief-Jus- 
tice of  England  that  slavery  could  not  exist  on 
English  soil.  This  declaration  met  with  a  hearty 
response  in  Rhode  Island.  On  the  17th  of  May, 
1774,  the  citizens  of  Providence  met  in  town 
meeting  to  take  counsel  together  upon  the  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  Two  resolves  of  this  meeting 
stand  fitly  side  by  side.  An  intestate  estate 
comprising  six  slaves  had  fallen  to  the  town. 
In  the  meeting  it  was  voted  that  it  was  "unbe- 
coming the  character  of  freemen  to  enslave  the 
said  negroes,  that  personal  liberty  was  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  natural  rights  of  mankind,  and 
that  the  Assembly  should  be  petitioned  to  pro- 
hibit the  further  importation  of  slaves,  and  to 
declare  that  all  negroes  born  in  the  Colony  should 
be  free  after  a  certain  age." 
14 


210  HISTOKY    OF   ERODE   ISLAND. 

In  the  June  session  of  1774  the  question  was 
brought  before  the  Assembly.  ' '  Those ' '  says  the 
preamble,  "who  are  desirous  of  enjoying  all  the 
advantages  of  liberty  themselves,  should  be  will- 
ing to  extend  personal  liberty  to  others."  .  .  . 
Therefore,  says  the  bill,  "for  the  future  no  negro 
or  mulatto  slave  shall  be  brought  into  this  Col- 
ony." To  perfect  the  act  clauses  were  added 
defining  the  condition  of  slaves  in  transit  with 
their  masters,  and  protecting  the  Colony  against 
pauper  freedmen. 

Having  taken  this  high  ground  concerning  the 
individual,  they  took  ground  equally  noble  con- 
cerning the  Colony,  "resolving  that  the  deputies 
of  this  town  be  requested  to  use.  their  influence 
at  the  approaching  session  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  this  Colony  for  promoting  a  Congress,  as 
soon  as  may  be,  of  the  representatives  of  the 
general  assemblies  of  the  several  colonies  and 
provinces  of  North  America  for  establishing  the 
firmest  union,  and  adopting  such  measures  as  to  • 
them  shall  appear  the  most  effectual  to  answer 
that  important  purpose,  and  to  agree  upon 
proper  methods  for  executing  the  same."  Thus 
in  Rhode  Island  the  condemnation  of  slavery  and 
the  call  for  union  went  hand  in  hand. 

The  time  for  hesitation  was  past.  Event  came 
crowding  upon  event.  Virginia,  also,  called  for 
a  Congress.  But  it  was  on  Boston  chiefly  that 
all  eyes  were  fixed.  Her  example  had  strength- 
ened the  hands  of  the  discontented,  and  both  the 


HISTOKY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  211 

King  and  his  Parliament  had  resolved  to  make 
her  a  warning  example  of  royal  indignation.  For 
this  the  bill  closing  her  port  and  cutting  off  her 
commerce  and  known  in  history  as  the  Boston 
Port  Bill  was  passed.  It  was  to  go  into  opera- 
tion the  1st  of  June,  1774.  Never  did  a  great 
wrong  awaken  a  more  universal  resentment.  Old 
jealousies  and  rivalries  were  forgotten  in  the  sense 
of  a  common  danger.  On  the  1st  of  June  the 
voice  of  mourning  and  commiseration  was  heard 
throughout  the  land.  Virginia  set  it  apart  as  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayers.  From  every  Colony 
came  contributions  in  sheep  and  oxen  and  money. 
Rhode  Island  sent  eight  hundred  and  sixty  sheep, 
thirteen  oxen,  four  hundred  and  seventeen  pounds 
in  money.  Boston  in  this  day  of  suffering  was 
for  her  no  longer  the  Boston  of  the  Atherton 
Company  and  disputed  boundary  lines. 

But  intelligent  as  Rhode  Island  had  proved 
herself  in  her  political  measures,  she  could  not 
altogether  raise  herself  above  the  ignorance  of 
her  age  in  sanitary  measures.  The  small-pox 
was  in  Newport,  and  inoculation  was  still  an 
undecided  question.  Should  the  legislature  be 
asked  to  declare  for  it  or  against  it  ?  After  four 
days  of  discussion  it  was  decided  in  the  negative 
by  a  close  vote. 

We  have  already  seen  that  a  special  tribunal 
had  been  organized  to  follow  up  the  question  of 
the  Gaspee.  In  its  instructions  directions  were 
given  to  send  their  prisoners  to  England  for  trial. 


212  HISTOEY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

Hutchinson,  the  renegade  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, proposed  to  annul  the  charter  of  Rhode 
Island.  The  committee  applied  to  Samuel  Adams 
for  counsel.  "An  attack  upon  the  liberties  of 
one  colony,"  was  his  answer,  "is  an  attack  upon 
the  liberties  of  all." 

The  new  year,  the  eventful  1773,  began  amid 
anxious  doubts  and  firm  resolves.  The  Assembly 
was  sitting  at  East  Greenwich,  the  Gaspee  court 
at  Newport.  "What  shall  I  do  ? "  asked  Chief- 
Justice  Hopkins.  The  Assembly  bade  him  follow 
his  own  judgment.  "Then  for  the  purpose  of 
transportation  for  trial,"  said  the  brave  old  man, 
"I  will  neither  apprehend  any  person  by  my 
own  order  nor  suffer  any  executive  officers  in  the 
Colony  to  do  it."  The  question  fortunately 
never  rose,  but  questions  equally  important  were 
at  hand. 

The  burning  of  the  Gaspee  was  a  sudden  out- 
break of  popular  indignation.  To  thoughtful 
minds  it  was  a  still  more  alarming  indication  of 
popular  feeling  that  the  senior  officer  on  the  sta- 
tion, Captain  Keeler,  of  the  Mercury,  should  have 
been  seized  and  verdicts  of  trespass  and  trover 
found  against  him  in  the  colonial  courts.  But 
England  did  not  heed  the  warning. 

But  the  great  work  was  done  by  the  Committee 
of  Correspondence,  already  formed  in  Massachu- 
setts and  Rhode  Island  in  1764,  but  more  effect- 
ively organized  in  Virginia  in  1775 — the  railroads 
and  telegraphs  of  those  days.  They  bound  the 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  213 

colonies  in  a  union  which  doubled  their  strength 
and  fanned  their  zeal  into  a  flame.  Through  them 
the  earliest  and  "  most  authentic  intelligence  of 
all  such  acts  and  resolutions  of  the  British  Par- 
liament, and  measures  of  the  ministry  as  may  re- 
late to  or  affect  the  British  colonies  in  America" 
was  obtained,  and  a  correspondence  concerning 
them  kept  up  with  the  other  colonies.  In  all 
these  preparations  for  the  struggle,  now  so  near 
at  hand,  Rhode  Island  bore  her  part.  And 
while  they  were  going  on,  and  as  if  his  part  had 
been  done,  her  faithful  agent,  proved  by  fourteen 
years  of  assiduous  service,  Joseph  Sherwood, 
died. 

In  October,  1773,  the  tea  act  went  into  operation, 
leading  the  discontent  still  more  directly  to  ac- 
tion. But  as  no  tea  was  sent  to  Rhode  Island, 
and  the  story  is  well  known  I  shall  not  repeat  it 
here,  only  saying  that  public  meetings  were  held 
in  all  of  which  it  was  resolved  to  confirm  the 
Philadelphia  resolutions.  Rhode  Island  had 
another  grievance  to  complain  of. 

The  story  of  the  Hutchinson  letters  is  well 
known  to  ever}7  reader  of  American  history. 
Some  unknown  friend  of  the  colonies  had  put 
them  in  the  hands  of  Franklin,  and  Franklin  had 
sent  them  to  America.  "  Among  them  was  a  let- 
ter of  George  Rome,  written  six  years  before, 
denouncing  the  governments  and  courts  of  Rhode 
Island."  It  was  immediately  published  in  news- 
papers and  on  broadsides,  and  in  every  form 


214  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

which  could  give  it  circulation.  Everywhere  it 
was  read  with  the  strongest  expressions  of  con- 
demnation. The  author  was  brought  to  the  bar 
of  the  house  of  deputies,  and  refusing  to  plead, 
sent  to  jail  for  the  remainder  of  the  session. 

Among  the  acts  of  revenge  which  disgrace  the 
English  legislation  of  this  period,  was  the  re- 
moval of  Franklin  from  the  responsible  office  of 
superintendent  of  the  American  post-office.  In 
his  hands  the  post-office  had  become  a  trust- 
worthy institution,  paying  its  way  and  meeting 
the  wants  and  commanding  the  confidence  of  the 
country.  As  a  means  of  communication  it  had 
become  a  bond  of  union.  To  suppress  it  would 
be  a  serious  blow  to  the  social  and  commercial 
relations  of  all  the  colonies.  The  blow  fell,  but 
not  according  to  its  aim.  We  have  already  re- 
corded the  name  of  William  Goddard  as  founder 
and  editor  of  the  Providence  Gazette.  When 
Franklin  was  removed  Goddard  conceived  the 
idea  of  a  colonial  post-office  adapted  to  the 
new  relations  between  England  and  the  colonies. 
To  secure  the  concurrence  of  all  the  colonies  he 
visited  them  all,  explaining  his  plans  and  awaken- 
ing everywhere  that  confidence  without  which 
all  his  efforts  would  have  been  vain.  It  was 
another  step  towards  union. 

On  the  eve  of  such  a  contest  it  was  wise  to 
count  heads.  A  census  was  ordered  and  gave  as 
its  result  fifty-nine  thousand  six  hundred  and 
seventy-eight,  of  whom  fifty-four  thousand  four 


HISTORY    OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  215 

hundred  and  thirty-five  were  whites,  three  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  sixty- one  blacks,  and 
one  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-two  In- 
dians. 

Two  events  of  grave  significance  mark  the 
month  of  May,  1774.  General  Gage  entered  Bos- 
ton as  Governor,  and  a  town  meeting  was  held  at 
Providence  wherein  it,  was  resolved,  "that  the 
deputies  of  this  town  be  requested  to  use  their 
influence  at  the  approaching  session  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  this  Colony,  for  promoting  a 
Congress  as  soon  as  may  be,  of  the  Representa- 
tives of  the  General  Assemblies  of  the  several 
colonies  and  provinces  of  North  America  for 
establishing  the  firmest  Union,  and  adopting  such 
measures  as  to  them  shall  appear  the  most  effect- 
ual to  answer  that  important  purpose ;  and  to 
agree  upon  proper  methods  for  executing  the 
same.'? 

In  the  same  meeting  it  was  recommended  to 
break  off  all  trade  with  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 
Africa  and  the  West  Indies  till  the  Boston  Port 
Bill  should  be  repealed.  Everywhere  the  warm- 
est sympathy  with  Boston  was  expressed  and 
effective  measures  taken  to  assist  her  by  contribu- 
tions of  provisions  and  money.  East  Greenwich 
was  the  first  to  open  a  subscription  for  her.  The 
example  was  promptly  followed  by  Newport, 
Westerly  and  other  towns  in  which  her  name  had 
never  awakened  kindly  feelings  before.  Some  of 
the  poor  sought  refuge  in  neighboring  colonies, 


216  HISTOEY    OF   KHODE    ISLAND. 

and  found  work  and  sympathy.  Some  Tories, 
alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  a  siege,  removed  to 
Providence,  but  found  it  a  dangerous  residence 
for  men  of  their  political  creed.  One  of  these,  a 
hardware  dealer  named  Joseph  Simpson,  seems 
to  have  been  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  Whigs, 
who  of  a  Saturday  night  covered  his  doors  and 
windows  with  tar  and  feathers.  A  public  meet- 
ing was  called  to  protest  against  allowing  the 
town  to  be  made  a  receptacle  of  the  enemies  of 
the  country  and  request  the  council  to  have  such 
persons  legally  removed.  Some  indications  of 
disorder  appearing,  another  meeting  was  called 
to  "insist  upon  the  supremacy  of  the  laws." 

Measures  of  defence,  also,  began  now  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  Assembly.  The  stores  at 
Fort  George  were  examined.  Some  thirty  years  be- 
fore an  independent  company  had  been  chartered 
under  the  name  of  the  Providence  County  Artil- 
lery. This  name  was  now  changed  to  Cadet  Com- 
pany and  the  corps  formed  upon  a  regimental 
basis,  taking  its  position  field  days  on  the  right. 
The  Light  Infantry  Company,  of  Providence,  was 
chartered  at  the  same  session.  It  was  to  consist 
of  a  hundred  men  and  be  stationed  "in  front  of 
the  left  wing  of  the  regiment."  A  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer  was  appointed  and  religiously  ob- 
served. But  the  most  important  step  of  all  was 
the  election  of  Stephen  Hopkins  and  Samuel 
Ward  for  delegates  to  that  Congress  towards 
which  all  eyes  were  anxiously  directed.  Thus 


HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  217 

Rhode  Island  had  been  the  first  to  propose  a 
Congress  and  the  first  to  take  action  upon  the 
proposal.  In  the  same  session  six  resolutions 
were  passed  "counseling  Union  and  an  imme- 
diate meeting  of  Congress  to  petition  for  redress, 
and  to  devise  measures  to  secure  their  rights." 
And  as  if  they  foresaw  how  entirely  government 
was  passing  away  from  the  King  and  Parliament, 
they  recommended  also  that  Congress  should 
meet  annually.  Copies  of  these  resolves  were 
sent  to  all  the  colonies. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  1774,  Congress  met 
in  Philadelphia,  and  after  careful  deliberation 
adopted  a  Declaration  of  Rights,  and  recom- 
mended the  formation  of  an  "American  Associa- 
tion," the  chief  articles  of  which  were  "non- 
intercourse  with  Great  Britain  till  their  grievances 
should  be  redressed,  abolition  of  the  slave  trade, 
encouragement  of  home  industry,  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  committees  of  inspection  in  every 
town  and  district  to  see  that  its  terms  were  kept 
inviolate."  To  these  were  added  "a  petition  to 
the  King,  letters  to  the  other  British  colonies, 
addresses  to  the  Canadians  and  to  the  people  of 
Great  Britain,  and  votes  of  thanks  to  the  friends 
of  America  in  Parliament."  The  tone  through 
all  was  decent,  earnest  and  resolute.  As  they 
circulated  through  the  country  the  people  felt 
that  their  convictions  had  been  faithfully  repre- 
sented. 

In  this  agitated  state  of   the  popular  mind  a 


218  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

riot  was  stirred  np  in  Providence  by  the  license 
question,  and  in  East  Greenwich  by  the  Tory 
question.  The  first  was  put  down  by  the  citizens, 
but  the  second  called  for  the  intervention  of  the 
military. 

The  attention  of  the  General  Assembly  was 
largely  given  to  measures  of  defence.  The  co- 
lonial fire-arms  at  Newport  were  distributed  by 
counties  in  proportion  to  their  tax  rate.  Simeon 
Potter,  of  Bristol,  was  chosen  major-general,  a 
new  office  created  for  the  occasion  and  subject  to 
annual  election.  The  militia  law  was  carefully 
revised,  and  provision  made  for  the  "manner  in 
which  the  forces  within  this  Colony  shall  march 
to  the  assistance  of  any  of  our  sister  colonies  if 
invaded  or  attacked."  The  cannon  and  powder 
at  Fort  George  were  removed  to  Providence  for 
greater  security  and  more  convenient  use.  Inde- 
pendent companies  were  formed  and  carefully 
trained.  Among  the  Kentish  Guards  were  Xa- 
thanael  Greene,  the  future  liberator  of  the  South  ; 
Christopher  Greene,  the  future  hero  of  Red  Bank  ; 
James  M.  Tarnum,  a  future  brigadier,  and  others 
whose  names  reappear  in  higher  grades  as  the 
progress  of  the  war  brought  superior  merit  to 
view.  In  Providence  County  the  militia  was 
divided  into  three  regiments  under  the  command 
of  a  brigadier. 

Among  the  recommendations  addressed  by 
Congress  to  the  people,  was  a  recommendation  to 
stop  the  exportation  of  sheep  to  the  West  Indies, 


HISTOKY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  219 

for  domestic  manufactures  were  growing  daily  in 
importance  and  wool  was  wanted  for  colonial 
looms.  The  recommendation  was  promptly  acted 
upon,  and  a  temporary  committee  of  inspection 
appointed  to  see  it  carried  out.  The  manufac- 
ture of  fire-arms  was  successfully  begun. 

In  February,  1773,  the  day  for  suspending  the 
use  of  tea  came.  In  Providence  three  hundred 
pounds  of  it  were  publicly  burned,  the  fire  being 
lighted  with  ministerial  documents  and  other  ob- 
noxious papers.  While  this  was  a  doing  by  the 
"  sons  of  liberty  "  in  Market  Square,  some  other 
sons  of  liberty  went  round  from  store  to  store, 
effacing  with  lamp-black  the  word  tea  on  the 
signs. 

In  April  there  was  a  general  muster  of  the 
militia,  when  it  was  found  that  Providence  County 
had  two  thousand  infantry  and  a  troop  of  horse 
under  arms,  and  Kent  County  nearly  fifteen  hun- 
dred. The  returns  of  the  other  counties  have  not 
been  preserved. 

The  day  of  decision  came.  The  battle  of  Lex- 
ington was  fought.  The  tidings  reached  Provi- 
dence in  the  night.  By  the  next  day  a  thousand 
armed  men  were  on  the  road  to  Boston.  But 
before  they  could  reach  it  expresses  met  them 
announcing  the  retreat  of  the  British. 

The  Assembly  met.  They  voted  to  raise  an 
Army  of  Observation  of  fifteen  hundred  men,  in 
spite  of  the  protests  of  the  Governor,  the  Deputy- 
Governor  and  two  assistants.  Nathanael  Greene 


220  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

and  William  Bradford  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  confer  with  the  Assembly  of  Connecti- 
cut about  this  raising  of  arms.  The  public 
ammunition  was  distributed — to  each  town  its 
proportion.  For  greater  security  it  was  voted  to 
hold  the  election  session  of  the  Assembly  at 
Providence.  A  day  was  set  apart  for  fasting  and 
prayer. 

The  May  session  for  the  election  of  officers 
came.  The  dividing  line  between  Whig  and  Tory 
was  more  sharply  drawn.  Several  changes  were 
made  in  the  board  of  assistants.  Deputy-Gov- 
ernor Sessions  gave  place  to  Nicholas  Cooke. 
Governor  Wanton  himself  was  suspended  for 
having  in  various  ways  ' '  manifested  his  inten- 
tions to  defeat  the  good  people  of  these  colonies 
in  their  present  glorious  struggle  to  transmit  in- 
violate to  posterity  those  sacred  rights  they  have 
received  from  their  ancestors."  A  Committee  of 
Safety  was  appointed,  which,  with  the  two  highest 
military  officers,  was  to  superintend  the  paying 
and  furnishing  the  troops  and  direct  their  move- 
ments when  called  out  of  the  Colony.  The 
public  offices  were  removed  to  Providence. 

"The  army  was  formed  into  one  brigade  of 
three  regiments,  each  regiment  consisting  of 
eight  companies,  with  a  train  of  artillery."  Of 
this  little  army,  called  Army  of  Observation, 
Nathanael  Greene,  who  had  never  held  military 
rank  before,  was  placed  in  command  with  the 
rank  of  brigadier-general.  To  anticipate  jeal- 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  221 

ousies  of  rank  and  position  it  was  provided  that 
"each  regiment  should  occupy  the  flanks  in 
rotation." 

Paper  money  with  all  its  evils  now  became  a 
necessity,  and  bills  of  credit  were  issued  to  the 
amount  of  twenty  thousand  pounds.  To  give 
them  the  character  of  an  investment  they  were  to 
bear  an  interest  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent.,  and 
be  ' '  redeemable  by  taxation  at  the  end  of  two 
and  five  years."  An  embargo  was  laid  on  pro- 
visions. 

Another  battle,  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  was 
at  hand.  Collisions  between  the  King's  troops 
and  the  people  were  frequent.  By  the  1st  of  June 
nearly  a  thousand  men  of  the  Rhode  Island  Army 
of  Observation  with  their  artillery  were  encamped 
on  Jamaica  Plains.  The  committees  of  inspection 
for  enforcing  the  American  Association  were  very 
active.  Articles  of  war  were  framed.  Tories 
were  jealously  watched.  The  suspension  of  Gov- 
ernor Wanton  was  a  bold  step  resolutely  perse- 
vered in.  He  attempted  to  explain  and  defend 
his  conduct,  but  his  explanations  were  not  ac- 
cepted. 

The  persecutions  of  the  Gaspee  were  renewed 
by  Sir  James  Wallace,  Captain  of  the  Rose 
frigate,  and  brought  on  an  action  between  a 
tender  of  the  frigate  and  a  colonial  sloop  com- 
manded by  Captain  Abraham  Whipple.  After 
some  sharp  firing  on  both  sides,  the  tender  was 
driven  ashore  under  Conanicut  and  captured. 


222  HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

Wallace  already  owed  Whipple  a  grudge  for  his 
part  in  the  burning  of  the  Gaspee,  and  wrote 
him :  "You,  Abraham  Whipple,  on  the  10th  of 
June,  1772,  burned  His  Majesty's  vessel,  the 
Gaspee,  and  I  will  hang  you  at  the  yard-arm. 
James  Wallace."  To  which  Whipple  replied : 
"To  Sir  James  Wallace,  Sir :  Always  catch  a  man 
before  you  hang  him.  Abraham  Whipple." 

This  was  no  longer  a  sudden  uprising  of  pop- 
ular indignation  against  insufferable  wrong,  but 
a  conflict  between  two  regular  armed  vessels — 
the  first  naval  battle  of  the  War  of  Independence. 
It  led  directly  to  the  equipping  of  two  vessels,  the 
Washington  and  the  Katy,  for  the  defence  of  the 
ColoDy — the  largest  carrying  ten  four-pounders 
and  fourteen  swivels,  with  a  crew  of  eighty  men — 
the  smallest  with  thirty  men. 

In  this  June  session  in  which  the  foundations  of 
the  navy  were  laid,  William  Goddard's  postal 
system  went  into  operation  six  weeks  before  its 
adoption  for  all  the  colonies  by  Congress. 

During  this  same  eventful  month  of  June  the 
waters  of  Narragansett  Bay  were  the  scene  of 
another  bold  enterprise.  The  Kose  frigate,  Swan 
sloop-of-war,  and  a  tender  were  lying  with  five 
prizes  in  Newport  harbor.  Other  vessels  came  in 
sight  and  the  royal  squadron  set  out  in  pursuit 
of  them,  following  them  up  the  bay  and  leaving 
the  five  prizes  unprotected.  No  sooner  did  the 
people  of  Newport  see  the  opportunity  than  they 
seized  it,  boarded  the  prizes  and  carried  them  off 
in  triumph. 


HISTOEY   OF   ERODE  ISLAND.  223 

The  next  event  of  general  interest  was  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  An  extra  session  of  the 
Assembly  was  called.  Committees  were  ap- 
pointed to  take  account  of  the  arms  and  ammu- 
nition in  the  Colony  and  report  it  to  Congress. 
Saltpetre  and  brimstone  were  sent  to  the  powder 
mills  of  New  York.  Fort  George  was  dismantled. 
A  signal  post  was  established  on  Tower  Hill,  and 
a  beacon  at  Providence,  on  Prospect  Hill.  The 
Colony  was  put  upon  a  war  footing,  every  man 
able  to  bear  arms  being  required  to  hold  himself 
in  readiness  for  active  service.  A  fourth  of  the 
militia  were  held  for  minute  men  and  drilled  half 
a  day  every  fortnight.  The  independent  com- 
panies were  drilled  with  them.  The  Army  of 
Observation,  which  now  numbered  about  seven- 
teen hundred  men,  was  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  Washington.  Everywhere  were  sights 
and  sounds  of  war. 

The  national  fast  day  came,  July  20th.  From 
every  pulpit,  from  every  family  altar,  rose  fervent 
prayers  for  Almighty  guidance  and  protection. 
For  Newport  it  was  a  day  of  terror,  for  Wallace, 
enraged  at  the  desertion  of  some  of  his  men, 
threatened  to  bombard  the  town.  Two  days  he 
lay  in  position  before  it.  On  the  third  he  sailed 
away. 

Providence  harbor  was  now  fortified  between 
Field  and  Sassafras  Points,  and  a  battery  of  six 
eighteen-pounders  erected  on  Fox  Point.  The 
Beacon  was  proved  and  found  to  shed  its  light 


224  HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

over  an  area  extending  from  Cambridge  to  New 
London  and  Norwich,  and  from  Newport  to  Pom- 
fret.  All  through  August  the  preparations  for 
war  continued.  The  live  stock  was  removed  from 
Block  Island  and  the  islands  of  the  bay.  The 
incipient  navy  was  enlarged  and  the  Rhode  Island 
delegates  in  Congress  instructed  "to  use  their 
whole  influence  for  building  at  the  Continental 
expense,  a  fleet  of  sufficient  force  for  the  protec- 
tion of  these  colonies,  and  for  employing  them  in 
such  manner  and  places  as  will  most  effectually 
annoy  our  enemies,  and  contribute  to  the  com- 
mon defence  of  these  colonies."  This  recommend- 
ation led  to  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of 
which  Governor  Hopkins  and  John  Adams  were 
members,  and  which  presently  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Continental  Navy. 

From  time  to  time  there  were  sudden  alarms. 
Once  it  was  given  out  that  Providence  was  to  be 
attacked,  and  the  works  in  the  harbor  were 
manned  and  the  troops  called  out.  But  Wallace, 
contenting  himself  with  taking  a  brig  from  the 
West  Indies  and  plundering  the  shores,  retired 
down  the  bay.  In  October  he  was  reinforced,  and 
after  holding  Newport  in  suspense  bombarded 
Bristol.  Domestic  enemies  also  were  to  be 
guarded  against.  George  Rome  reappears  and  is 
sent  to  Providence  '''to  be  dealt  with  according 
to  his  demerits."  Furnishing  supplies  to  the 
enemy  or  holding  correspondence  with  them  was 
made  punishable  with  death  and  forfeiture.  Ex- 


HISTORY   OF   KHODE  ISLAND.  225 

ception  was  made  in  favor  of  Newport  on  account 
of  her  exposed  situation.  The  sufferings  of  the 
poor  both  in  Newport  and  on  the  islands  were  so 
great  that  the  Assembly  found  it  necessary  to 
come  to  their  assistance,  helping  some  to  move 
away  and  supplying  others  with  provisions.  How 
business  suffered  may  be  seen  by  the  repeal  of 
the  statute  of  limitations.  In  November  Gov- 
ernor Wanton  was  formally  removed  from  office 
and  Nicholas  Cooke  elected  in  his  stead.  With 
th,e  burning  of  the  Gaspee  the  sword  was  drawn, 
with  the  deposition  of  Governor  Wanton  the 
scabbard  was  thrown  away. 

Meanwhile  new  emissions  of  bills  of  credit 
were  made  and  the  overwhelming  debt  overwhelm- 
ingly increased.  But  it  was  no  longer  the  debt 
of  a  single  colony  but  a  part  of  the  war  debt  of 
all  the  colonies,  and  therefore  Congress  assumed 
forty-five  thousand  pounds  of  it  as  such.  Of 
this  forty-five  thousand  pounds  a  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  dollars  were  presently  paid. 
One  more  battle  was  fought  in  Narragansett  Bay, 
and  one  more  day  set  apart  for  fasting  and  prayer. 

We  have  seen  that  Rhode  Island  had  called  for 
a  navy.  In  November  Congress  took  the  subject 
up,  appointed  a  marine  committee  and  voted  to 
arm  and  equip  four  vessels.  Esek,  brother  of  the 
Governor,  was  put  in  command  of  them  with  the 
title  of  commodore.  Two  hundred  and  fifty 
Rhode  Islanders  followed  Arnold  through  the 
wilderness,  and  none  of  all  the  invading  army 

15 


226  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

bore  with  greater  fortitude  the  privations  of  the 
weary  march  or  fought  more  gallantly  under  the 
walls  of  Quebec  than  Christopher  Greene,  Samuel 
Ward  and  Simeon  Thayer,  all  of  whom  we  shall 
meet  again  on  the  ramparts  of  Red  Bank.  Over 
a  hundred  were  sent  to  Philadelphia  under  Cap- 
tain Whipple.  to  serve  in  the  new  navy. 

Meanwhile  at  Xewport  and  on  the  islands  the 
presence  of  the  British  squadron  held  men  in 
constant  alarm.  A  considerable  force  was  en- 
camped at  Middletown.  and  a  constant  watch 
kept  up  to  guard  against  the  secret  machinations 
of  the  disaffected.  Row  gallies  patrolled  the  bay 
and  a  night  guard  was  established.  But  in  spite 
of  every  precaution  the  trees  were  cut  down  on 
Hope  Island,  twelve  dwelling  houses  were  burned 
and  their  occupants  plundered  on  Conanicut.  and 
the  live  stock  carried  off  wherever  a  secure  land- 
ing could  be  effected.  General  Lee,  who  had  been 
sent  from  Cambridge  to  direct  the  fortifying  of 
the  island,  made  his  entrance  into  Xewport  at 
the  head  of  eight  hundred  men.  and  after  impos- 
ing upon  the  suspected  a  comprehensive  oath  and 
giving  instructions  for  the  erection  of  fortifications, 
returned  to  the  army.  To  express  their  sense  of 
his  services  the  Recess  Committee  voted  "  that  one 
of  the  best  beds,  with  the  furniture  taken  from 
Charles  Dudley,  be  presented  to  General  Lee.'' 

In  the  last  days  of  December  there  was  a  riot 
in  West  Greenwich  to  prevent  the  enlistment  of 
minute  men.  In  the  middle  of  January  there 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  227 

was  some  sharp  lighting  on  Prudence  Island.  In 
the  course  of  the  first  day  the  British,  who  had 
come  up  in  twelve  vessels,  landed  two  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  drove  oft8  a  body  of  a  hundred  minute 
men,  burned  seven  houses  and  carried  away  a 
hundred  sheep.  Next  day  reinforcements  ar- 
rived from  Bristol  and  Warren  and  the  fighting 
was  renewed.  This  time  the  victory  was  with  the 
Americans,  and  after  a  battle  of  three  hours  the 
enemy  were  driven  to  their  ships  with  a  lossx  of 
fourteen  killed  and  many  wounded.  War  in  one 
of  its  worst  forms  raged  at  all  the  most  vulnerable 
points  of  Narragansett  Bay. 

And  thus  the  gloomy  days  went  by,  slowly 
but  surely  bringing  nearer  and  nearer  the  now  in- 
evitable problem  of  independence.  Rhode  Island, 
with  her  hundred  and  thirty  miles  of  coast  line, 
her  two  navigable  rivers,  and  triple  passage  from 
the  ocean,  was  in  constant  exposure.  We  have 
seen  how  she  was  harrassed  by  Wallace  in  Jan- 
uary, 1776.  In  February  more  houses  and  a 
windmill  Were  burned  and  more  stock  plundered 
on  Prudence,  and  a  descent  for  plunder  made  on 
Point  Judith.  With  this  last  the  names  of  sev- 
eral persons  suspected  of  being  Tories  were  mixed 
up,  giving  the  Committee  of  Safety  much  to  do. 
Difficulties  between  the  citizens  of  Newport  and 
the  soldiers  under  General  West,  encamped  on 
the  island,  arose  in  a  measure  from  the  same 
cause.  West  resigned  because  men  whom  he  had 
arrested  as  Tories  had  been  set  at  liberty  by  the 
Assembly.  Among  them  was  Governor  Wanton. 


228  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAXD. 

The  first  act  of  the  eventful  drama  closes  with 
the  evacuation  of  Boston,  on  the  17th  of  March. 
For  a  day  it  was  believed  that  the  British  fleet 
was  entering  the  bay,  but  the  alarm  proved  false. 
The  American  army  went  to  Xew  York,  passing 
through  Rhode  Island  on  its  march. 

While  these  events,  so  grievous  in  the  present, 
so  full  of  a  glorious  future,  were  passing,  Samuel 
Ward,  who  had  so  nobly  represented  the  highest 
conscience  and  culture  of  Rhode  Island  in 'the 
Continental  Congress,  was  dying  of  small-pox  in 
Philadelphia — the  advanced  post  of  civil  heroism, 
An  upright  and  conscientious  man,  who  had  drawn 
from  books  and  men  those  lessons  which  make 
men  wise  in  judgment  and  firm  in  principle  and 
bold  in  action.  Had  he  lived  a  few  weeks  longer 
his  name  would  have  been  foremost  among  the 
signers.  A  marble  monument  was  voted  him  by 
Congress,  '''in  testimony  of  the  respect  due  to 
his  memory,  and  in  grateful  remembrance  of  his 
public  servi< 

The  last  Colonial  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island 
met  on  the  1st  of  May.  On  the  4th,  two  months 
before  the  Congressional  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, it  solemnly  renounced  its  allegiance  to 
the  British  crown,  no  longer  closing  its  session 
with  "God  save  the  King/'  but  taking  in  its 
stead  as  expressive  of  their  new  relations.  •'  God 
save  the  United  Colonies." 


OHAPTEK  XXY. 

RHODE  ISLAND  BLOCKADED. — DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 
INDORSED  BY  THE  ASSEMBLY.  —  NEW  TROOPS  RAISED. — 
FRENCH  ALLIANCE. — UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT  TO  DRIVE  THE 
BRITISH  FROM  RHODE  ISLAND. 

FROM  the  4th  of  May,  1776,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  of  Rhode  Island,  to  the  battle  of 
Tiverton  Heights,  on  the  29th  of  August,  1778, 
she  lived  with  the  enemy  at  her  door,  constantly 
subject  to  invasion  by  land  and  by  water,  and 
seldom  giving  her  watch-worn  inhabitants  the 
luxury  of  a  quiet  pillow.  For  months,  as  we 
already  have  seen,  British  ships  of  war  had  in- 
fested her  shores,  driving  off  the  stock,  plunder- 
ing the  inhabitants  and  burning  their  houses  and 
barns.  In  November  a  still  greater  calamity 
befell  her,  a  British  fleet  took  possession  of  her 
waters,  a  British  army  of  her  principal  island. 
The  seat  of  government  was  removed  to  Provi- 
dence. The  points  most  exposed  had  already 
been  fortified  as  well  as  the  means  and  military 
science  of  the  Colony  permitted.  These  were 
strengthened  and  other  points  fortified.  A  battery 
was  erected  on  the  southern  projection  of  War- 
wick Neck,  commanding  the  entrance  of  Coweset 
Bay.  The  women  and  children  of  the  seaboard 


230     ,  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

towns  were  advised  to  take  refuge  in  the  interior. 
The  militia  were  called  out.  The  troops  on  the 
island,  about  seven  hundred  in  number,  were 
removed  to  the  main  land,  part  under  Colonel 
Cook  taking  post  at  Tiverton,  part  under  General 
West  at  Bristol.  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 
sent  immediate  aid  to  their  imperilled  sister. 
And  thus  Rhode  Island  entered  upon  the  humiliat- 
ing life  of  a  district  held  by  its  enemy. 

The  story  of  these  three  years  should  either  be 
told  in  detail,  or  told  very  briefly.  In  detail  it 
presents  some  striking  pictures  and  some  impor- 
tant lessons.  The  pictures  are  for  the  chief  part 
marine  views,  most  of  the  fighting  having  taken 
place  on  the  water.  The  lessons  are  to  be  found 
in  the  skill  or  want  of  skill  with  which  legislation 
adapted  itself  to  new  wants  and  new  means.  Our 
limits  do  not  admit  of  detail.  We  shall  glean 
sparingly  from  the  statute  book. 

The  first  duty  of  the  Assembly  was  to  draw 
out  the  resources  of  the  State  and  give  them 
efficiency.  The  census  of  Providence  in  February 
gave  a  return  of  four  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty-five  souls,  with  about  five  hundred  stand 
of  arms.  Of  this  population  one- sixth  were 
effective  men.  The  other  towns  furnished  their 
proportion,  and  the  distribution  and  equipment 
of  'them  received  the  constant  attention  of  the 
Assembly  and  fills  a  large  space  in  the  schedules. 
In  the  new  arrangement  of  the  Continental  Army 
the  three  Rhode  Island  regiments  were  formed 


HISTOKY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

into  two  battalions.  We  shall  not  attempt  to 
follow  the  schedule  through  the  various  changes 
which  were  made  in  the  quota  furnished  by 
Rhode  Island  to  the  main  army.  The  fuller  page 
of  history  gives  it  a  noble  record,  and  the  names 
of  Christopher  Greene,  of  Angell,  of  Thayer,  of 
the  two  Olneys,  of  Samuel  Ward  and  their  com- 
panions, stand  very  high  in  the  regimental  history 
of  the  war. 

Another  subject  which  occupied  from  time  to 
time  the  anxious  attention  of  the  Assembly  was 
the  treatment  of  the  small-pox.  How  could  its 
ravages  be  staid?  How  could  the  prejudice 
against  inoculation,  which  still  prevailed  so 
widely  even  among  the  intelligent  and  well  in- 
formed, be  overcome?  The  question  was  brought 
before  the  Assembly  in  June,  when  it  was  re- 
solved, though  not  without  opposition,  to  estab- 
lish an  hospital  for  inoculation  in  each  county. 
It  was  resolved  also  to  ask  Congress  to  establish 
a  uniform  system  of  inoculation  in  the  army 
and  navy. 

There  could  no  longer  be  any  doubt  as  to  the 
treatment  of  Tories.  Rhode  Island  was  an  inde- 
pendent state,  and  justifiable  in  employing,  to 
protect  herself  against  treason,  the  same  means 
which  other  independent  states  employed.  A 
test  oath  was  framed,  which  all  who  were  sus- 
pected of  Toryism  were  required  to  subscribe. 
Yet,  even  in  this  dark  day  of  trial  she  did  not 
forget  her  fundamental  principle,  and  the  con- 


232  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

scientious  scruples  of  the  Quakers  were  respected. 
Commerce  was  permitted  with  all  parts  of  the 
world  except  England  and  her  dependencies. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  by  Congress 
was  received  with  general  satisfaction,  and  pro- 
claimed with  a  national  salute  and  military  dis- 
play. At  Providence  the  King' s  arms  were  burned, 
and  the  Legislature  assumed  its  legal  title,  "The 
State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Planta- 
tions," and  voted  that  "we  do  approve  the  said 
resolution,  and  do  most  solemnly  engage  that  we 
will  support  the  said  General  Congress  with  our 
lives  and  fortunes." 

Congress,  as  we  have  seen,  had  voted  to  build  a 
navy  at  the  original  suggestion  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  directed  that  two  of  the  thirteen  frigates  that 
were  to  compose  it  should  be  built  there.  Ship 
building  was  one  of  the  arts  to  which  the  Colony 
had  directed  its  attention  on  its  first  planting, 
and  Rhode  Island  workmen  had  grown  skillful 
therein.  The  direction  first  taken  by  her  mari- 
time enterprise  was  privateering,  which  not  only 
made  the  fortunes  of  individuals,  but  met  many 
wants  which  the  regular  commerce  of  the  country 
was  unable  to  meet.  To  this  great  fleet  Rhode 
Island  contributed  sixteen  vessels,  manned  by 
men  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  animated  by  love  of 
adventure,  love  of  country,  and  love  of  gain. 
Sometimes  their  numbers  were  kept  full  at  the 
expense  of  the  army,  and  it  was  found  necessary 
to  lay  a  general  embargo  till  the  Continental 
quotas  were  filled. 


HISTORY   OF   ERODE   ISLAND.  233 

In  December  the  Assembly  met  at  Greenwich, 
but  finding  that  place  too  exposed,  adjourned  to 
Providence.  The  chief  subject  of  discussion  was 
how  to  raise  an  army,  and  the  New  England 
States  were  invited  to  send  committees  to  Provi- 
dence to  concert  some  general  plan  of  action. 
The  Recess  Committee  gave  place  to  a  Council  of 
War,  composed  of  ten  members.  The  dangerous 
system  of  short  enlistments  still  prevailed  and 
a  brigade  of  three  regiments,  two  of  infantry, 
each  composed  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men 
in  eight  companies,  and  one  of  artillery  com- 
posed of  three  hundred  men  in  five  companies, 
were  voted  for  fifteen  months.  The  command 
was  given  to  General  Varnum,  and  Malmedy,  a 
French  officer,  recommended  by  General  Lee,  was 
appointed  "Chief  Engineer  and  Director  of  the 
works  of  defence  in  this  State,  with  the  rank  of 
Brigadier  "  When  brought  to  the  test  of  enlist- 
ment its  roll  filled  up  very  slowly. 

The  Convention  of  the  Eastern  States  met  in 
Providence.  Each  state  was  represented  by  three 
delegates.  Stephen  Hopkins  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent. After  long  and  frequent  consultations  with 
the  Assembly,  it  was  recommended  that  an  army 
of  six  thousand  men  should  be  concentrated  in 
Rhode  Island,  of  which  Massachusetts  was  to 
furnish  nineteen  hundred  men,  Connecticut  eleven 
hundred,  New  Hampshire  three  hundred,  and 
Rhode  Island  eighteen  hundred  and  a  thousand 
Continental  troops. 


234  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Other  questions  called  for  equal  attention. 
Men  no  longer  dared  to  look  to  paper  and  a  print- 
ing-press for  their  money,  but  to  taxing  and  bor- 
rowing. A  loan  of  forty  thousand  pounds  at  five 
per  cent,  was  voted.  But  the  borrowers  were 
many,  the  lenders  few,  and  taxes  hard  to  collect. 
With  less  wisdom  it  was  voted  to  prevent  monop- 
olies and  regulate  prices.  All  of  these  questions 
recur  from  time  to  time  till  men  grow  weary 
of  contending  with  the  natural  laws  of  trade. 
Meanwhile  the  army  was  almost  naked,  and  more 
than  once  on  the  brink  of  starvation  and  mutiny. 
The  plans  of  the  convention  for  concentrating  a 
large  force  were  never  wholly  carried  out,  and 
the  army  of  the  State,  like  the  army  of  Con- 
gress, was  too  often  an  army  on  paper. 

Yet  one  great  step  was  taken  at  the  suggestion 
of  General  Yarnum.  Colonel  Christopher  Greene, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Olney  and  Major  Ward  were 
sent  home  to  enlist-  a  battalion  of  negroes  for  the 
Continental  service.  When  the  question  came 
before  the  Assembly  in  the  form  of  a  resolution 
to  enroll  slaves,  compensate  their  masters  and 
give  them  their  freedom,  it  met  with  some  opposi- 
tion upon  the  ground  that  it  would  be  disapproved 
of  in  other  states,  that  the  masters  would  not  be 
satisfied  with  the  compensation,  and  that  there 
were  not  slaves  enough  to  make  a  regiment.  But 
the  wiser  opinion  prevailed,  the  regiment  was 
raised,  and  when  the  day  of  trial  came  the  freed- 
man  proved  himself  an  excellent  soldier. 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  235 

In  February,  1778,  the  Articles  of  Confederation 
were  adopted,  not  as  perfectly  satisfactory,  but 
as  the  best  that  could  be  had.  Certain  modifica- 
tions were  proposed.  ' '  Obtain  them  if  you  can, ' ' 
were  the  instructions  to  the  Rhode  Island  dele- 
gates, "but  in  all  events  sign  the  articles." 

In  April  came  the  happy  tidings  of  the  French 
alliance,  joyfully  received  everywhere  with  ring- 
ing of  bells  and  firing  of  salutes  and  military  dis- 
play. The  22d  of  April  had  been  appointed  for 
a  fast  day.  It  was  changed  to  a  thanksgiving. 
The  hopes  of  the  country  were  raised  very  high. 
"Surely,"  men  said  to  one  another,  "now  that 
France  has  declared  for  us,  the  end  must  be 
near." 

In  May  Governor  Cooke,  who  had  served  dili- 
gently since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  withdrew 
from  his  laborious  office,  and  William  Greene, 
son  of  the  late  Governor  Greene,  was  elected  in 
his  stead,  and  with  such  general  acceptance  that 
he  continued  to  be  reflected  eight  years  in  suc- 
cession. Four  delegates  instead  of  two  were  sent 
to  Congress. 

We  have  seen  how  the  islands  of  the  bay  had 
suffered.  In  the  same  month  of  May  an  expe- 
dition was  sent  by  the  British  commander  at 
Newport  against  Warren  and  Bristol  on  the 
main.  Three  churches  and  several  private  houses 
were  burnt,  and  seventy  flat-boats,  together  with 
the  galley  Washington  and  a  grist-mill,  were  de- 
stroyed. There  was  loss  of  life  and  destruction 


236  HISTOBY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

of  property,  but  not  a  step  made  towards  the  de- 
cision of  the  contest.  Soon  after  an  attempt 
was  made  on  Fall  River,  but  repulsed  by  the 
judicious  choice  of  position  and  gallantry  of  Col- 
onel Joseph  Durfee. 

The  presence  of  the  enemy  in  Narragansett 
Bay  was  a  constant  menace  to  the  Eastern  States. 
and  to  drive  them  out  was  the  constant  aim 
of  the  commander  of  that  department.  Under 
General  Spencer  great  preparations  had  been  made 
and  great  hopes  entertained  of  success.  But  one 
of  the  brigades  failed  to  be  up  with  their  boats 
in  time,  and  a  second  attempt  was  prevented  by 
the  weather. 

At  last  the  favorable  moment  came.  Sullivan, 
an  active  and  intelligent  officer,  was  in  command 
of  the  Continental  forces,  and  the  cooperation  of 
D'Estaiug  with  the  French  fleet  was  secured.  On 
the  29th  of  July  twelve  French  ships  of  the  line 
and  four  frigates  arrived  off  Newport.  The 
English  were  effectually  blockaded,  driven  from 
their  outposts,  and  compelled  to  destroy  their 
vessels. 

Preparations  were  made  for  an  immediate  ad- 
vance. At  no  period  of  the  war  had  greater  enthu- 
siasm prevailed.  Volunteers  came  pouring  in  from 
Boston.  Salem,  Xewburyport,  Portsmouth — not 
merely  those  whom  pay  or  bounty  could  call  out, 
but  men  of  wealth  and  position.  John  Hancock 
led  the  militia  of  Massachusetts.  Greene  and 
Lafayette  came  on  from  the  main  army.  By  the 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  237 

8th  of  August  Sullivan  found  himself  at  the  head 
of  ten  thousand  men.  The  right  wing  took  post 
at  Tiverton.  The  French  fleet  under  D'Estaing 
held  the  outer  harbor.  The  morning  of  the  10th 
was  fixed  upon  for  the  attack.  On  the  8th  the 
fleet  ran  up  the  middle  passage  in  face  of  a  heavy 
fire  from  the  enemy' s  batteries,  and  secured  the 
command  of  the  bay.  Sir  Robert  Pigot  drew  in 
his  forces  and  stationed  them  in  strong  positions 
near  the  town.  They  numbered  about  six  thou- 
sand in  all. 

Sullivan  seeing  that  the  British  commander  had 
abandoned  his  strong  works  at  the  head  of  the 
island,  thought  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost  in 
securing  them,  and  without  waiting  for  the  day 
agreed  upon  with  the  French  admiral,  set  his 
right  wing  under  Greene,  in  motion  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  9th  and  began  to  cross  over  to  the 
island.  D'Estaing  felt  the  breach  of  etiquette, 
but  had  little  time  to  dwell  upon  it.  For  about 
two  in  the  afternoon  a  fleet  of  nearly  twenty-five 
sail  came  in  sight,  standing  in  for  Newport.  It 
was  the  fleet  of  Lord  Howe.  He  lay  to  off  Point 
Judith  for  the  night,  and  next  morning  began 
a  trial  of  seamanship  with  D'Estaing  for  the 
weather-gage.  The  Englishman  stood  out  to 
sea  ;  a  sudden  change  of  wind  enabled  the  French- 
man to  follow  him,  and  the  whole  of  the  first  day 
and  part  of  the  second  were  passed  in  manoeu- 
vring. Meanwhile  the  wind  kept  rising,  and  in  a 
few  hours  it  blew  a  gale.  Soon  it  was  no  longer 


238  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

a  question  of  victory,  but  of  life.  The  work  of 
destruction  by  mortal  hands  ceased.  The  big 
ships  were  tossed  helplessly  about  by  the  yawn- 
ing billows.  The  invisible  winds  snapped  the 
strong  masts  —  once  the  pride  of  centennial 
forests  —  asunder.  The  Languedoc,  with  her 
ninety  guns,  the  French  admiral's  own  ship,  lost 
masts  and  rudder.  The  shattered  fleets  made 
their  way  to  port  as  best  they  might,  the  English 
to  New  York,  the  French  to  Newport,  with  occa- 
sional encounters  on  their  way. 

The  tempest  had  raged  with  as  much  violence 
on  shore  as  at  sea.  Nothing  could  withstand  its 
rage.  Trees  were  torn  up  by  the  roots.  Tent 
poles  were  snapped  asunder  like  reeds.  Mar- 
quees were  torn  and  dashed  to  the  ground.  The 
rain  fell  in  torrents,  swelling  the  brooks  till  they 
overflowed  their  banks  and  spread  over  the  fields 
in  ponds  and  pools.  Men  crouched  under  the  stone 
walls.  When  the  tempest  ceased,  horses  and  men 
were  found  dead  together.  Then  was  the  time 
for  Pigot  to  draw  out  his  men  from  their  snug 
quarters  in  the  town  and  lead  them  against  the 
exhausted  Americans.  The  American  general 
feared  this,  and  anxiously  watched  the  dangerous 
hours  go  by.  But  the  Englishman  let  slip  the 
golden  occasion  and  it  never  returned. 

It  was  not  without  many  misgivings  that  Sul- 
livan had  seen  the  French  fleet  make  sail  and 
stand  out  to  sea.  But  D'Estaing  had  pledged 
himself  to  return,  and  when  on  the  20th  a  swift 


HISTOEY   OF   EHODE   ISLAND.  239 

frigate,  and  soon  the  Languedoc  herself,  hove  in 
sight,  he  dispatched  Greene  and  Lafayette  to 
confer  with  the  French  admiral  and  his  officers 
and  secure  their  cooperation.  But  whatever 
D'Estaing's  own  wishes  may  have  been,  his 
officers,  who  were  jealous  of  him  as  a  landsman, 
pointed  to  his  instructions  and  called  upon  him 
to  repair  to  Boston.  The  Americans  felt  them- 
selves deserted,  for  it  was  only  by  the  aid  of  the 
fleet  that  the  town  could  be  taken.  "There 
never,"  they  said,  "  was  a  prospect  so  favorable 
blasted  by  such  a  shameful  desertion." 

Still  Sullivan  resolved  to  persevere  in  his  at- 
tempt, and  giving  partial  vent  to  his  indignation 
in  the  order  of  the  day,  took  up  a  position  within 
three  miles  of  the  town  and  began  to  erect  bat- 
teries. It  was  soon  evident  that  it  would  be 
hazardous  to  attempt  to  hold  it.  On  the  2Sth 
it  was  resolved  to  fall  back  and  establish  a  forti- 
fied camp  at  the  north  end  of  the  island.  But 
already  the  army  was  melting  away.  Three 
thousand  militiamen  and  volunteers  went  off  in 
twenty-four  hours,  and  presently  the  assailants 
scarcely  outnumbered  the  assailed.  The  British 
fleet  also  would  soon  be  back,  while  the  French 
fleet  could  no  longer  be  counted  upon.  D'Estaing 
indeed  gallantly  offered  to  bring  up  his  land 
forces  to  the  support  of  his  allies.  But  now  the 
only  question  was  how  to  retreat  without  loss. 
A  sharp  battle  was  fought  on  the  29th,  in  which 
both  sides  contended  obstinately  for  the  victory. 


240  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Then  in  the  night,  men,  baggage,  artillery  and 
stores,  were  transported  across  the  ferry  with- 
out the  loss  of  a  man  or  beast,  or  a  single  muni- 
tion of  war. 


OHAPTEE    XXYI. 

ACTS  OF  THE  BRITISH  TROOPS.— DISTRESS  IN  RHODE  ISLAND. — 
EVACUATION  OF  NEWPORT. — REPUDIATION.— END  OF  THE 
WAR. 

THE  Americans  were  sorely  disappointed.  They 
had  taken  up  their  arms  with  such  confidence  of 
success  that  they  could  not  bear  to  lay  them 
down  with  so  little  done.  Their  murmurs  were 
loud  and  deep.  Some  were  ready  to  lay  all  the 
blame  upon  their  allies.  Nothing  but  the  good 
sense  of  Greene  and  the  good  feeling  and  generous 
nature  of  Lafayette  could  have  prevented  an  out- 
break. The  old  leaven  of  English  animosity  to- 
ward France  still  lay  deeply  rooted  in  the  colonial 
heart.  It  was  an  unfortunate  beginning  of  the 
alliance  that  was  to  give  them  victory. 

For  still  another  year  the  principal  island  of 
Narragansett  Bay  was  to  remain  in  the  hands  of 
British  soldiers,  and  its  other  islands  and  the 
shores  of  its  mainland  lie  exposed  to  the  ravages 
of  British  cruisers.  It  was  a  year  of  suffering. 
There  was  no  more  fighting  in  regular  battles,  no 
more  laying  siege  by  regular  advances,  but  many 
plundering  excursions  for  the  wanton  waste  of 
property  and  the  wicked  waste  of  life.  '  Houses 
were  burnt  from  mere  wantonness  ;  woods  and 

16 


242  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

orchards  cut  down  to  serve  for  fire-wood,  and  for 
this  the  cold  winter  furnished  a  good  excuse  ;  but 
when  at  last  the  enemy  withdrew,  little  was  left 
of  the  sylvan  beauty  of  Narragansett  Bay. 

The  adventurous  fighting  was  chiefl}^  done  on 
the  water,  and  the  hero  of  it  was  Silas  Talbot, 
of  Providence.  Talbot  had  already  distinguished 
himself  early  in  the  war,  both  on  land  and  on  the 
water.  Nothing  suited  his  adventurous  spirit  so 
well  as  the  leadership  in  enterprises  which  to 
other  men  seemed  hopeless,  and  his  judgment 
and  skill  equaled  his  daring.  Of  these  bold 
exploits  one  of  the  boldest  was  the  capture  of 
the  Pigot  galley,  a  vessel  of  three  hundred  tons, 
mounting  eight  twelve-pounders,  protected  by 
strong  boarding  nettings  and  manned  by  forty- 
five  men.  The  force  with  which  Talbot  took 
her  was  a  small  sloop  carrying  two  three-pounders 
and  manned  for  the  occasion  by  sixt}*  men.  As 
a  recognition  of  his  gallantly  Congress  sent  him 
a  commission  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  not  long 
after  that  of  captain  in  the  navy. 

Among  the  miseries  of  these  years  was  a  scarcit}* 
of  food,  almost  amounting  to  a  famine.  Specula 
tion  was  active  and  remorseless,  getting  control  of 
the  market  and  growing  rich  on  human  suffering. 
An  appeal  was  made  to  Connecticut  for  a  suspen- 
sion of  her  embargo  on  provisions  in  favor  of 
Rhode  Island.  The  question  how  to  counteract 
"  engrossers  and  forestallers,''  was  one  of  the 
most  difficult  questions  which  Congress  and  state 


HISTORY  -OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  243 

legislatures  and  special  conventions  were  called, 
upon  to  meet.  Two  thousand  helpless  poor  were 
scattered  through  the  State,  dependent  upon 
public  and  private  charity  for  bread.  Five  hun- 
dred pounds  were  voted  for  the  relief  of  the  poor 
of  Newport.  The  appeal  to  Connecticut  for  a 
relaxation  of  her  embargo  was  met  by  permission 
to  export  seven  thousand  bushels  of  grain,  and  a 
recommendation  of  a  general  contribution  by  her 
citizens.  The  recommendation  called  forth  gifts 
of  four  thousand  three  hundred  pounds  in  money, 
and  five  hundred  bushels  of  grain.  The  recom- 
mendation was  extended  through  Congress  to 
other  states,  and  South  Carolina  assumed  through 
her  delegates  fifty  thousand  dollars  of  Rhode 
Island's  Continental  quota. 

It  was  in  this  year  also  that  the  storm,  long 
known  as  the  Hessian  storm,  from  the  number  of 
those  wretched  mercenaries  who  perished  in  it, 
occurred.  Sentinels  froze  at  their  posts — some 
were  suffocated  by  the  whirling  snow.  The  roads 
were  blocked  up  by  it.  Never  had  such  a  storm 
been  known. 

New  taxes  were  regularly  called  for  and  voted, 
both  for  Continental  and  State  expenses.  But  the 
currency  was  deranged  and  the  sources  from 
whence  taxes  were  drawn  well  nigh  exhausted. 
The  treasury  was  empty.  To  enlist  a  new  brigade, 
—the  term  of  the  old  one  having  run  out, — it 
was  found  necessary  to  borrow  twelve  thousand 
pounds  from  Connecticut  for  a  month.  There 


244  HISTORY    OF   KHODE   ISLAND. 

was  not  time  yet  for  constitutional  reforms, 
although  attention  was  frequently  called  to  the  in- 
equality of  representation.  But  the  more  impor- 
tant reforms  were  the  reforms  of  the  army,  and  the 
great  event  of  1779  was  the  introduction  of  Steu- 
ben's  Tactics. 

The  derangement  of  the  currency  made  itself 
felt  everywhere.  Colonel  Crary,  of  the  First  State 
Infantry,  an  excellent  officer,  was  compelled  to 
throw  up  his  commission  because  he  could  not 
support  his  family  on  his  pay.  With  many 
others  it  was  merely  a  question  of  time — whether 
they  should  resign  at  once  or  wait  a  little  longer 
till  they  were  ruined  utterly.  As  paper  depreci- 
ated taxes  were  increased.  Confidence,  the  basis 
of  national  prosperity,  was  gone.  In  June,  1778, 
two  heavy  taxes  were  levied,  one  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  pounds  for  Congress, 
and  one  of  sixty  thousand  pounds  for  the  State. 
Almost  the  only  channel  through  which  goods 
and  money  still  continued  to  come  was  through 
privateers. 

The  vital  question  was  the  question  of  finance. 
Congress  appealed  to  the  states  and  the  states  to 
the  towns.  A  convention  met  at  East  Greenwich 
and  attempted  to  fix  upon  a  maximum  scale  of 
prices  for  articles  of  consumption.  The  establish- 
ment of  rates  for  labor  and  board  and  manufac- 
tures, was  left  with  the  towns.  The  fatal  effects 
of  a  false  sj^stem  of  political  economy  fell  heavily 
upon  both  town  and  country.  Trading  in  gold 


HISTOEY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND.  245 

and  silver  was  discouraged  and  desperate  efforts 
made  to  relieve  the  country  from  the  pressure  of 
present  debt;  but  the  root  of  the  evil  lay  too 
deep,  and  bankruptcy  was  already  at  the  door. 

One  act,  however,  of  these  days  of  trial,  we  can 
still  dwell  upon  with  satisfaction.  In  spite  of 
the  manumission  act  an  attempt  was  made  to  sell 
some  slaves  to  the  South.  The  Assembly  inter- 
fered for  their  protection  and  forbade  the  'sale. 

The  Greenwich  Convention  had  left  its  work 
unfinished.  A  new  convention  was  called  in 
September  to  finish  it,  and  every  effort  was  made 
to  raise  the  loan  recommended  by  Congress.  At 
the  suggestion  of  Massachusetts  a  convention  of 
the  five  Eastern  States  was  called  to  meet  at  Hart- 
ford and  take  these  difficult  questions  into  con- 
sideration. And  thus  the  days  and  months  passed 
away,  monotonously  sad,  with  little  of  present 
enjoyment  and  still  less  of  promise  for  the  future. 
Men  lived  like  those  who  carry  their  lives  in  their 
hands  and  have  no  hold  on  the  morrow.  At  last 
the  long  looked  for  day  came.  Fifty-two  trans- 
ports entered  Newport  harbor  and  immediately 
the  work  of  embarkation  began.  Six  thousand 
men  with  their  baggage  and  military  stores  and 
a  melancholy  train  of  Tories  were  to  bid  good- 
bye to  their  pleasant  quarters.  When  all  was 
ready  the  inhabitants  were  forbidden  to  venture 
into  the  streets  on  pain  of  death,  and  the  march 
to  the  place  of  embarkation  at  Brenton's  Point 
began.  Then  was  heard  for  the  last  time  in  the 
streets  of  Newport  the  British  drum  and  the 


246  HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

measured  tread  of  an  enemy's  march.  All  day 
long  the  boats  were  plying  to  and  fro,  and  at 
sunset  the  fleet  set  sail.  Forty -six  Tories,  with 
such  property  as  they  could  carry,  and  a  large 
band  of  liberated  slaves  went  with  it.  The  last  act 
of  the  troops  was  to  burn  the  barracks  at  Bren- 
ton's  Point  and  the  light-house  at  Beaver  Tail. 
When  the  inhabitants  began  to  look  about  them 
and  count  their  losses,  they  found  that  over  five 
hundred  houses  had  been  destroyed  and  property 
to  the  value  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  pounds  ruined  in  the  Town  of  Xewport 
alone.  The  population  had  been  reduced  by  more 
than  half,  and  among  the  emigrants  were  the 
Lopez,  and  Hays,  and  Riveiras,  and  Touros,  rich 
and  enterprising  Jews.  One  outrage  it  is  difficult 
to  explain,  the  robbery  of  the  town  records,  which 
were  put  on  board  one  of  the  transports  and  sent 
to  New  York.  This  alone  would  have  been  a 
great  injury,  for  they  contained  the  history  of 
the  Colony  from  its  foundation,  and  as  parts  of 
that  history  the  record  of  sales  and  grants  of 
land.  But  to  complete  the  loss  the  vessel  on 
board  which  they  had  been  put  sunk  in  the  pas- 
sage of  Hell  Gate,  and  it  was  not  till  they  had 
lain  three  years  in  the  water  that  they  were 
recovered.  Parts  only  were  legible. 

The  Assembly  which  met  on  the  very  day  of 
the  evacuation,  found  much  to  do.  Many 
expenses  which  the  presence  of  the  enemy  had 
made  necessary,  ceased.  The  coast-guard  was  dis- 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  247 

missed.  The  ferries  from  Newport  to  South 
Kingstown  were  reopened.  The  four  island  towns 
resumed  their  charter  administration.  The  non- 
intercourse  act  was  repealed,  and  New  Shoreham 
restored  to  the  exercise  of  her  corporate  rights. 
To  meet  the  embargos  laid  by  the  neighboring 
states,  an  embargo  was  laid  upon  all  articles  of 
exportation.  The  militia  was  reorganized.  In 
August  acts  had  been  brought  in  confiscating  the 
property  of  Tories,  and  forbidding  the  sale  of 
slaves  out  of  the  State  against  their  will.  They 
were  passed  in  October. 

We  come  now,  and  reluctantly,  to  a  disgrace- 
ful page  of  our  annals,  the  Revolutionary  debt 
of  Rhode  Island.  In  the  December  session  of 
1779,  the  State  acknowledging  "the proved  fidel- 
ity, firmness  and  intrepidity  in  service,  of  its 
soldiers,"  pledged  itself  through  its  constitution- 
ally elected  representatives,  to  make  good  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  ' '  to  them  or  their  legal  repre- 
sentatives, the  wages  of  the  establishment  of 
Congress,  wherever  they  engaged."  Upon  the 
strength  of  this  solemn  engagement  many  of  the 
men  and  officers  of  the  three  Rhode  Island  regi- 
ments of  the  line,  whose  terms  of  service  were 
about  to  expire,  reenlisted  for  the  war. 

This  pledge  was  broken,  leaving  an  ineffaceable 
stain  upon  the  shield  of  Rhode  Island.  Nor 
does  it  lighten  the  disgrace  to  say  that  other 
states  also  were  untrue  to  their  pledges.  Other 
states  persecuted  for  opinion,  but  in  this  Rhode 
Island  did  not  follow  their  example. 


248  HISTORY   OF   RHODE    ISLAND. 

A  bitter  winter  followed  the  evacuation.  The 
bay  was  blocked  up  with  ice.  Seaward  the  ice 
extended  as  far  as  eye  could  reach.  Govern- 
ment had  to  come  to  the  relief  of  the  starving  and 
freezing  poor.  Corn  cost  four  dollars  a  bushel, 
potatoes  two — famine  prices,  as  prices  ordinarily 
ruled. 

We  have  marked  the  first  appearance  of  the 
Newport  Mercury.  During  the  three  years  of 
British  occupation  it  was  published  at  Rehoboth, 
but  at  the  evacuation  was  brought  back  to  >>" 
port,  and  resumed  its  original  influence  under  the 
editorship  of  Henry  Barber. 

As  time  wore  on  things  gradually  assumed  a 
more  hopeful  aspect.  In  April,  1779,  Lafayette 
returned  from  France  with  the  cheering  assurance 
that  a  French  fleet  would  soon  follow  him.  Prep- 
arations for  effective  cooperation  immediately 
began.  The  militia  was  called  out  for  three 
months.  Rhode  Island's  quota  of  men  was  one 
regiment  of  six  hundred  and  thirty  men  :  of  sup- 
plies, seventy  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
seventy-five  pounds  of  beef,  thirty  hogsheads  of 
rum,  and  twenty  two  hundred  and  eighty-live 
bushels  of  forage  grain  ;  of  transportation,  two 
hundred  draft  horses. 

The  promptness  with  which  the  little  State  met 
the  heavy  calls  upon  her  limited  resources  was 
warmly  acknowledged  by  Washington  in  a  letter 
to  Governor  Greene.  And  at  the  same  time  one 
of  her  regiments  was  winning  high  honor  at 


HISTORY    OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  249 

Springfield,  under  the  guidance  of  one  of  her  best 
officers,  Israel  Angell. 

The  arrival  of  the  French  fleet  and  army  under 
Ternay  and  Rochambeau  was  the  signal  for 
universal  rejoicing.  The  hopes  and  confidence 
of  the  first  year  of  the  alliance  were  revived.  But 
this  time  the  efforts  of  the  combined  forces  were 
to  be  directed  against  the  enemy's  strongest 
post  —  New  York  itself.  Some  apprehensions 
were  still  felt  from  the  secret  machinations  of  the 
Tories,  and  an  act  was  passed  banishing  them. 

Meanwhile  preparations  were  made  for  quarter- 
ing and  feeding  the  troops.  In  Providence,  Uni- 
versity Hall  was  set  apart  for  a  hospital.  The 
barracks  at  Tiverton  and  a  farm  near  Bristol  were 
assigned  to  them  for  the  same  purpose,  and 
Pappoosquash  Point  was  given  to  them  for  a 
burial  place. 

To  meet  the  expenses  imposed  by  these  prep- 
arations new  taxes  were  assessed,  founded  upon  a 
new  estimate  of  taxable  property,  and  designed 
to  sink  the  remaining  portion  of  the  State's  quota 
of  old  Continental  bills  and  meet  present  and 
future  expenses.  Taken  altogether  the  taxes 
voted  in  the  July  session  of  1780,  reduced  to  a 
specie  standard,  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  It  was  a  heavy 
burden,  and  the  good  spirit  with  which  the 
people  bore  it  showed  how  thoroughly  their 
hearts  were  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  their  country. 


250  HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

But  suddenly  there  was  a  new  alarm.  An  En- 
glish fleet  of  sixteen  ships  of  war  appeared  in 
the  offing,  staid  just  long  enough  to  spread  a 
general  apprehension  of  invasion,  and  after  a  sec- 
ond alarm  took  up  its  station  in  Long  Island 
Sound  and  blockaded  the  French  from  the  sure 
position  of  Gardiner's  Island.  Thus  for  a  time 
French  cooperation  once  more  failed. 

In  September  the  Assembly  met  in  Newport, 
the  first  time  in  four  years.  The  State  House 
had  been  used  by  the  British  for  a  hospital,  and 
all  the  churches  except  Trinity  for  barracks. 
The  Assembly  held  its  session?  in  the  Redwood 
Library. 

Money  was  still  the  primary  object  of  atten- 
tion. Congress  called  on  the  states  for  three  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  For  the  first  time  Rhode  Island 
was  unable  to  meet  her  portion.  She  had  also  a 
large  proportion  of  the  French  troops  to  provide 
for,  whose  headquarters  were  at  Xewport.  where 
Rochambeau  established  himself  in  the  Vernon 
House,  which  still  bears  his  name.  But  the 
French  brought  hard  money  with  them,  and  spent 
it  freely. 

In  December  Ternay.  the  French  admiral,  died, 
without  having  had  an  opportunity  of  doing  any 
thing  important  for  his  allies.  His  tomb  is  still 
seen  in  Trinity  church-yard. 

We  enter  upon  1781.  the  decisive  year  of  the 
war — and  decisive  also  by  its  political  significance. 
Connecticut  and  Virginia  ceded  their  western 


HISTOEY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  251 

lands  to  the  Union,  and  Greene' s  successes  in  the 
South,  and  Washington's  capture  of  Yorktown, 
virtually  put  an  end  to  the  war.  In  the  same 
year  the  confederation  was  completed  by  the 
accession  of  Maryland.  Rhode  Island  could  not 
perform  all  her  federate  duties  as  heretofore,  but 
the  presence  of  the  French  fleet  made  her  for  a 
while  an  object  of  especial  interest.  Her  daily 
quota  of  supplies  was  two  thousand  rations  of 
fresh  beef,  besides  rum  and  other  stores. 

In  the  same  year  she  lost  by  surprise  two  of 
her  best  soldiers,  Colonel  Christopher  Greene  and 
Major  Ebenezer  Flagg,  both  distinguished  by 
their  part  in  the  defence  of  Red  Bank,  in  1777. 
Peace  was  at  hand,  and  with  peace  a  new  experi- 
ment in  political  life.  The  confederation  had  been 
tried  in  war  and  found  wanting.  How  would 
it  meet  the  requirements  of  peace  ? 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

ARTS  OF  PEACE  RESUMED. — DOCTRINE  OF  STATE  RIGHTS. 

GREAT  were  the  rejoicings  over  the  surrender 
of  Cornwallis — public  balls,  firing  of  cannon  and 
displ'ay  of  fire- works — for  close  upon  that  sur- 
render came  the  longed  for  peace.  As  a  more  en- 
during expression  of  gratitude  to  the  man  who  had 
led  in  this  great  work,  the  Assembly  decreed  that 
"in  order  to  obliterate,  as  may  be,  every  trace 
and  idea  of  that  government  which  threatened 

our  destruction the  same  county, 

(King's),  shall  forever  hereafter  be  known  and 
distinguished  by  the  name  and  style  of  Wash- 
ington." 

And  soon  the  war-worn  troops  who  had  so 
gallantly  borne  their  part  in  the  burthen  and 
heat  of  the  day,  came  home  rejoicing  in  their 
victory,  but  trembling  for  their  future.  Then 
came  pressing  the  urgent  questions  of  the  hour, 
and  first  of  all  the  question  of  finance.  The 
Bank  of  North  America  had  been  established  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  superintendent  of 
finance,  though  not  enough  to  make  him  listen 
to  the  appeal  of  Rhode  Island  to  be  allowed  to 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  253 

pay  part  of  her  quota  in  army  supplies.  To 
ascertain  on  what  ground  the  State  stood  for  tax- 
ation a  new  census  was  ordered,  which  gave  fifty- 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine  for 
the  whole  number  of  inhabitants,  Newport 
returning  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty- 
one,  and  Providence  four  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  ten.  A  new  estimate  of  taxable  property 
also  was  made,  which  was  found  to  amount  to 
nearly  three  millions  of  pounds  in  lawful  money. 
Taxation  had  borne  heavily  upon  this  capital,  but 
with  peace  war  expenditures  ceased,  and  produc- 
tive industry  began  to  return  to  its  natural 
channels. 

And  very  soon  a  Federal  question  arose.  Con- 
gress resolved  to  levy  an  import  duty  of  five  per 
cent.,  but  could  not  do  it  without  the  consent  of 
the  states.  Here  dawns  upon  us  the  question  of 
state  rights,  soon  to  assume  a  more  menacing 
aspect  and  delay  for  years  Rhode  Island's  en- 
trance into  the  Union.  Nearly  all  the  states  but 
Rhode  Island  had  given  their  consent  to  it,  but 
she  foresaw  in  it  future  danger  to  her  liberties 
and  persisted  in  her  refusal.  Two  of  her  delegates, 
Ho  well  and  Ellery,  held  out  vigorously  against  it. 
"  Ho  well  undertook  to  prove  that  the  State,  by 
adopting  the  impost,  would  lose  four-fifths  of 
its  revenue  collected  upon  it.  Mr.  Ellery  went 
upon  the  common  danger  of  altering  the  consti- 
tution, and  frightened  the  people  with  the  loss  of 
liberty." 


254  HISTORY    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

Variium  and  Marchant  used  man}'  arguments 
"  to  remove  these  prejudices,  but  to  little  purpose. 
The  general  spoke  two  hours  and  a  half  ;  his 
arguments  were  learned,  sensible  and  conclusive  : 
but  they  were  unavailing."  Such  were  the  reason- 
ings in  the  Rhode  Island  Assembly.  "The  truth 
of  the  matter  is,"  wrote  General  Greene,  "a  large 
majority  of  the  members  are  incompetent  judges 

of  so  complicated  a  question 

What  is  to  become  of  us  and  our  national  honor 
God  only  knows.  No  people  ever  had  brighter 
prospects  shaded  so  unexpectedly." 

In  the  midst  of  these  exciting  discussions  it  is 
pleasant  to  see  what  early  attention  was  given  to 
education.  The  college  returned  to  the  use  for 
which  it  was  built,  and  in  September,  1782,  seven 
students  received  their  degrees. 

In  that  same  yea,r  and  month  died  Nicholas 
Cooke,  who  had  filled  the  Governor's  chair  so 
worthily  at  the  beginiug  of  the  war.  More  than 
once  before  peace  was  declared  an  armed  enemy 
was  seen  in  Narragansett  Bay.  Two  vessels  were 
cut  out  of  Newport  harbor  in  the  night  by  Tory 
privateers,  and  at  another  time  an  armed  party 
took  possession  of  Hope  Island  and  held  it  for 
several  days.  One  of  the  most  menacing  signs  of 
these  troubled  times,  was  the  armed  resistance 
to  the  collection  of  taxes  which  had  threatened 
Massachusetts  with  civil  war,  but  was  sternly 
put  down.  Yet  even  when  the  strong  arm 
of  the  law  was  raised  to  enforce,  they  who 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  255 

wielded  it  most  firmly  could  not  but  feel  that 
there  was  much  ground  for  complaint. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  follow  step  by  step  the 
progress  of  Rhode  Island  in  her  return  to  the 
life  and  arts  of  peace.  New  laws  were  called  for 
and  made.  New  fields  of  enterprise  were  opened 
and  entered  upon.  The  errors  of  the  past  were 
to  be  bitterly  atoned  for.  But  her  resources  were 
great,  her  will  strong,  and  her  courage  unabated. 
From  the  mass  of  detail  I  select  a  few  charac- 
teristic points. 

The  financial  embarrassment  made  itself  felt 
everywhere,  endangering  contracts,  paralyzing 
industry  and  checking  enterprise,  and  under- 
mining both  public  and  private  credit.  Eight 
millions  were  required  for  the  Federal  quotas  of 
1782.  Less  than  half  a  million  had  been  col- 
lected. Four  states  had  paid  nothing,  nine  next 
to  nothing.  The  impost  act  failed,  and  Howell, 
who  by  his  opposition  to  it  had  made  himself 
numerous  enemies  in  Congress,  had  greatly 
added  to  his  influence  at  home.  Rhode  Island 
was  looked  up  to  as  the  champion  of  state  rights. 
With  time  she  will  grow  wiser. 

We  have  seen  that  slavery  became  the  subject 
of  legislation  at  an  early  period  of  our  annals. 
It  reappeared  at  the  return  of  peace,  when  grad- 
ual emancipation  was  minutely  provided  for,  and 
the  introduction  of  "slaves  for  sale  under  any 
pretext  whatever,  forbidden." 

Among  the  purely  local  acts  was  the  incorpora- 
tion of  Newport,  and  the  regulation  of  the  Paw- 


256  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.. 

catnck  fishery,  and  an  attempt  to  annex  Poto- 
womut  to  East  Greenwich.  Among  those  which 
belong  to  the  history  of  thought  was  that  by 
which  Sabbatarians  were  "allowed  to  pursue  their 
usual  avocations  on  Sunday."  Among  those  that 
bore  directly  upon  business  was  the  revival  of  the 
statute  of  limitations,  and  an  act  for  encouraging 
the  manufacture  of  certain  articles  of  general 
demand.  Patents  and  copyright  laws  followed 
soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
though  not  with  a  full  recognition  of  an  author's 
right  to  the  product  of  his  brain.  For  the  sup- 
port of  government  a  tariff  act  was  passed. 

But  the  most  historically  interesting  act  of  the 
February  session  of  1783  was  the  enabling  act, 
by  which  the  original  harmony  between  the 
digests  and  the  charter  was  restored.  Into  these 
digests,  but  when  or  how  nobody  could  tell,  the 
phrases:  "Roman  Catholics  excepted, "  and 
"professing  Christianity,"  had  been  interpolated 
in  direct  violation  of  the  royal  charter.  Neither 
under  Charles  nor  under  James  could  this  have 
been  done.  But  in  1696  a  plot  against  William 
had  been  discovered,  which  led  to  the  formation 
of  " associations  of  loyalty"  in  all  the  colonies 
but  Rhode  Island.  Practically,  the  exception 
had  no  effect,  and  Catholics  and  Jews  were  admit- 
ted to  the  full  rights  of  citizenship  as  they  had 
always  been.  But  as  an  historical  question  it  is 
pleasant  to  know  that  the  principle  of  universal 
toleration  was  never  practically  violated  in  the 
home  of  Roger  Williams. 


OHAPTEE  XXVIII. 

DEPRECIATION  OF  THE  CURRENCY. — INTRODUCTION  OP  THE 
SPINNING-JENNY.  —  BITTER  OPPOSITION  TO  THE  FEDERAL 
UNION.  —  RHODE  ISLAND  FINALLY  ACCEPTS  THE  CONSTI- 
TUTION. 

THE  question  of  finance  meets  us  at  every  turn, 
and  in  every  phase  bears  fatal  witness  to  the 
demoralizing  effects  of  paper  money  unsustained 
by  hard  money  capital.  At  the  Spring  election 
of  1786,  the  triumph  of  the  paper  money  party 
was  complete.  A  new  bank  was  established  of  a 
hundred  thousand  pounds.  And  soon  a  Forcing 
Act  became  necessary  to  give  the  bills  currency 
under  heavy  penalties.  A  complete  stagnation 
of  business  presently  followed.  The  old  hostility 
between  town  and  country  revived.  Commerce 
was  suspended.  Shops  were  closed.  The  farmers 
who  had  mortgaged  their  farms  for  the  bills, 
found  that  they  had  got  nothing  but  bits  of  paper 
in  return  for  fruitful  acres.  To  retaliate  upon 
the  tradesmen  they  refused  to  bring  their  produce 
to  market.  The  necessaries  of  life  fell  short  and 
much  suffering  ensued.  In  Providence  a  town 
meeting  was  held  to  devise  a  remedy,  and  it  was 

resolved  that  the  farmers  should  be  left  to  make 
17 


258  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

their  own  bargains,  and  that  to  relieve  the  imme- 
diate demand  five  hundred  dollars  should  be 
borrowed  and  sent  abroad  to  buy  corn  for  the 
sufferers.  At  Newport  an  attempt  was  made  to 
force  the  bills  upon  the  grain  dealers,  which  led 
to  a  riot.  At  a  meeting  in  South  Kingstown 
farmers  were  advised  to  break  off  their  inter- 
course with  the  merchants. 

A  convention  of  the  country  towns  of  Provi- 
dence County  was  held  at  Scituate  and  adjourned 
to  meet  the  State  convention  at  East  Greenwich. 
Sixteen  towns  were  represented  and  resolved  "  to 
support  the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly,"  and 
enforce  the  penal  acts  in  favor  of  paper  money. 
Providence  was  represented  by  five  of  its  best 
and  most  popular  men,  but  they  were  powerless 
against  the  torrent. 

When  the  question  came  before  the  Assembly 
a  new  Forcing  Act  was  passed,  in  which  the  right 
to  trial  by  jury  was  withheld*  and  all  the  common 
forms  of  justice  violated.  The  protest  of  the 
indignant  minority  was  refused  a  place  on  the 
records  ;  and  pushing  their  recklessness  to  the 
utmost,  the  triumphant  majority  enacted  that  the 
arrears  of  Continental  taxes  might  be  paid  in 
the  new  bills,  and  proposed  a  system  by  which 
all  trade  was  to  be  carried  on  by  a  committee  in 
the  name  of  the  State.  This,  however,  was  a  step 
too  far  even  for  these  wild  schemers,  and  when 
the  Force  Act  was  brought  to  trial,  it  was  con- 
demned by  a  full  bench  as  unconstitutional. 


HISTOKY   OF  ERODE   ISLAND.  259 

But  the  Assembly  persevered,  summoned  the 
judges  to  answer  for  their  interference,  and  under 
the  name  of  Test  Act  passed  a  new  Forcing  Act 
more  outrageous,  than  the  last.  It  was  something 
like  a  pause  in  this  reckless  career  that  the  new 
act  was  referred  to  the  towns  for  discussion.  Only 
three  towns  accepted  it.  An  attempt  at  concili- 
ation failed. 

The  lowest  deep  of  financial  degredation  was 
reached  when  the  treasurer  was  ordered  to  pay 
one-fourth  part  of  the  State  debt  in  the  bills  re- 
ceived for  taxes.  Never  had  party  spirit  assumed 
so  dangerous  a  form.  Among  the  bad  doings  of 
the  Assembly  was  the  resumption  of  the  charter 
of  Newport. 

.  It  was  at  this  critical  moment,  when  rents  were 
paid  in  corn  and  trade  seemed  about  to  return  to 
its  original  form  of  barter,  that  the  first  spinning- 
jenny  in  the  United  States  was  constructed  by 
Daniel  Jackson,  of  Providence,  and  the  founda- 
tions of  Rhode  Island's  manufacturing  pros- 
perity securely  laid.  History  is  full  of  compen- 
sations. 

We  reach  the  beginning  of  a  still  greater  strug- 
gle. The  convention  that  was  to  transform  the 
Confederation  into  a  Union  was  to  meet  in  May. 
Should  Rhode  Island  be  represented  in  it? 
Those  who  had  faith  in  the  Confederation,  and 
there  were  many  such,  believed  that  with  some 
amendments  it  might  be  made  to  answer  all  the 
purposes  of  a  stable  government.  Those  who 


260  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

were  more  impressed  with  its  weakness  called  for 
a  thorough  and  radical  change.  The  first,  who 
in  the  sequel  were  known  as  States  Rights  men, 
were  also  the  advocates  of  paper  money.  The 
second,  the  Federalists  of  a  later  day,  were  in 
favor  of  hard  money.  The  motion  to  send  dele- 
gates was  lost,  and  another  step  taken  towards 
repudiation.  "All  holders  of  State  securities 
were  required  to  present  them  to  the  treasurer 
within  six  weeks  and  receive  five  shillings  in  the 
pound  thereupon,  or  to  forfeit  that  amount,  and 
interest  was  to  cease  immediately  upon  the  rising 
of  the  Assembly.  The  paper  was  now  passing  at 
the  rate  of  six  dollars  in  paper  for  one  in  silver." 
Never  had  the  honor  of  the  State  been  so  imper- 
illed. Fortunately,  though,  the  Assembly  was 
divided,  the  courts  were  firm,  and  it  was  only  by 
removing  four  judges  out  of  five  that  a  decision 
in  favor  of  paper  payments  was  obtained.  Mean- 
while the  bills  continued  to  fall,  and  soon  readied 
eight  for  one.  But  the  moral  sense  of  the  com- 
munity was  not  altogether  stifled.  Some  churches 
refused  to  receive  as  communicants  men  who  paid 
their  debts  in  paper. 

But  soon  all  questions  became  absorbed  in  the 
question  of  the  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the 
Convention.  In  the  Senate  it  was  voted  to  send 
delegates,  but  the  bill  was  lost  in  the  House, 
whose  action  was  defended  by  a  State  Rights 
letter,  setting  forth  the  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty  and  "the  entire  subserviency  of  the 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  261 

legislature  to  the  public  will."  None  but  the 
people  could  send  delegates  to  a  convention. 

Meanwhile,  the  Convention,  with  Washington 
at  its  head,  and  Franklin,  Hamilton  and  Madison 
among  its  working  members,  had  reached  the  end 
of  its  arduous  labors.  The  next  step  was  to  sub- 
mit it  to  the  people.  The  Assembly  met  and  a 
bill  was  introduced  for  printing  it  for  distribution, 
and  appointing  delegates  as  recommended  by  the 
Convention  itself.  The  last  was  voted  down  by  a 
large  majority.  The  fruit  was  not  yet  ripe.  But 
a  resolve  to  print  a  thousand  copies  for  distribu- 
tion was  agreed  to,  and  thus  the  question  was 
brought  squarely  before  the  people. 

And  now  for  three  years  it  was  the  chief  ques- 
tion in  all  public  meetings,  and  was  sure  to  come 
in  either  directly  or  indirectly  wherever  two  or 
three  met  together  for  business  or  for  pleasure. 
The  merchants  accepted  it  cheerfully,  for  they 
saw  progress  and  development  and  protection  in 
it.  But  it  wras  opposed  by  the  farmers,  who  saw 
in  it  a  sacrifice  of  the  rights  of  the  State.  Rhode 
Island  had  stood  alone  so  long,  had  been  so  firm 
and  self-reliant  through  the  dark  days  of  her 
long  contest  with  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut, 
that  she  failed  to  see  how  completely  the  rela- 
tions of  the  colonies  to  each  other  were  changed, 
when  from  colonies  they  became  states.  There 
was  no  place  for  independent  states  in  the  domain 
occupied  by  a  Federal  Union. 

The  first  to  accept  the  Constitution  was  Dela- 
ware. Pennsylvania  came  next,  and  then  New 


262  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Jersey.  The  opening  of  1788  was  marked  by  the 
accession  of  Georgia.  Connecticut  followed  close. 
In  Massachusetts  the  contest  was  long  and  bitter. 
In  June  New  Hampshire  gave  in  her  adherence= 

We  have  seen  in  what  a  dark  hour  Rhode 
Island  first  turned  her  attention  to  cotton  spinning. 
In  this  hour  of  even  deeper  gloom  she  lirst 
opened  a  direct  trade  with  India.  About  the  same 
time  a  rolling  and  a  slitting-mill  was  established 
near  Providence.  Women  of  all  classes  met 
together  to  spin  flax,  and  men  of  all  classes  took 
pride  in  wearing  homespun.  Nor  was  the  promise 
of  navigation  less.  Providence  already  counted 
a  hundred  and  ten  sail  in  her  waters,  exclusive 
of  river  craft.  In  spite  of  all  her  errors  her 
faith  in  the  future  was  unimpaired. 

Meanwhile  the  contest  continued.  Town  was 
arrayed  against  country,  the  States  Rights  men 
still  holding  the  majority  in  the  Assembly,  al- 
though in  Providence  the  Federalists  were  strong- 
est. The  tidings  of  New  Hampshire's  acceptance 
was  received  with  exultation.  The  Constitution 
was  sure.  In  Providence  it  was  resolved  to  unite 
the  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July  with  that  of 
the  completion  of  the  National  Union.  The  States 
Rights  men  took  this  for  an  intentional  insult  and 
marched  upon  the  town.  Nothing  but  the  good 
sense  of  the  leaders  prevented  a  bloody  collision. 
The  rejoicings  it  was  agreed,  were  for  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  not  for  the  Declaration  of 
the  Union.  Then  from  five  to  six  thousand  people 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  263 

sat  down  in  a  tent  a  thousand  feet  long  to  feast 
upon  a  sumptuous  banquet,  the  most  attractive 
part  of  which  was  an  ox  roasted  whole.  On  the 
very  next  day  came  tidings  from  Virginia.  She 
also  had  accepted  the  Constitution.  New  York 
followed  and  then  North  Carolina,  and  the  warm- 
est enthusiam  welcomed  each  new  declaration 
of  acceptance.  But  a  bitter  party  spirit  still  held 
Rhode  Island  back. 

Thus  month  followed  month.  New  assemblies 
and  new  town  meetings  came  together  and  fought 
over  the  same  ground.  In  all  the  other  states  of 
the  old  thirteen  the  Constitution  had  been  ac- 
cepted, and  was  in  successful  operation.  It  was 
clear  that  Rhode  Island  could  not  long  preserve 
her  insulation.  She  was  already  compelled  to 
ask  vital  favors  of  the  Union,  and  petition  Con- 
gress to  exempt  her  commerce  from  paying  duties 
in  Union  ports.  For  a  while  Congress  bore  with 
her  and  granted  her  prayer.  Slowly  but  surely 
the  decisive  day  drew  nigh.  All  the  artifices  of 
parliamentary  tactics  were  brought  into  play.  In 
the  midst  of  intense  excitement  and  by  the  cast- 
ing vote  of  Governor  Collins,  it  was  decided  on 
the  Sabbath  morning  of  January  17th,  1790,  to 
call  a  convention.  But  even  in  the  convention 
the  friends  of  the  Constitution  were  in  a  minority. 
The  familiar  ground  was  to  be  fought  over  again 
with  no  less  bitterness  than  in  the  beginning. 
Loud  murmurs  came  from  Congress.  Shall  this 
little  strip  of  land  prevent  us  from  completing  a 


264  HISTORY    OF   KIIODE   ISLAND. 

union  so  full  of  promise  ?  Louder  still  were  the 
murmurs  from  the  seats  of  commerce — Providence 
and  Newport.  We  will  break  away  from  these 
impracticable  men  and  go  into  the  Union  alone 
with  our  ships  and  our  spinning-jennies.  A 
coalition  ticket  was  formed.  So  great  was  the 
eager  crowd,  in  which  each  man  had  his  opinion, 
that  the  State  House  was  found  too  small  to  hold 
them,  and  the  convention  was  compelled  to  ad- 
journ to  the  Second  Baptist  Church.  It  still  took 
three  days  more  before  a  vote  was  reached  ;  and 
then,  at  five  o'clock  of  Saturday  afternoon,  on 
the  29th  of  May,  1790,  Khode  Island  declared 
her  adhesion  to  the  Union. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

MODE   OF  LIFE  IN  OUR  FOREFATHERS'   DAYS. 

WE  have  followed  with  as  much  detail  as  our 
limits  would  permit,  the  history  of  Rhode  Island 
through  the  various  phases  of  her  colonial  life. 
Before  we  enter  upon  the  story  of  her  develop- 
ment as  a  member  of  a  great  Union,  we  propose 
to  bring  together  a  few  facts  from  the  imperfect 
record  of  her  social  and  domestic  life,  and  en- 
deavor to  form  for  ourselves  some  idea  of  what 
manner  of  men  and  women  our  fathers  and 
mothers  were,  and  what  kind  of  lives  they  led. 
Incomplete  as  our  materials  for  such  a  picture 
are,  there  is  still  enough  to  be  found  in  those 
sources  from  which  history  loves  to  draw  to  bring 
us  very  near  to  the  life  of  those  days. 

And  to  begin  with  the  soil ;  the  inland  in  the 
beginning  of  English  colonization  was  a  vast 
forest,  dotted  with  ponds  of  fresh  water  and  wat- 
ered by  numerous  rivers.  In  this  forest  the 
natives  themselves  had  begun  the  work  of  clear- 
ing, and  drawn  between  it  and  the  sea  a  belt  of 
arable  land  from  eight  to  ten  miles  in  depth,  on 
which  they  planted  their  favorite  food — the  nutri- 
tious maize.  The  waters  abounded  with  fish,  the 


266  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

woods  with  game.  The  animals  most  to  be  feared 
were  the  wild-cat  and  the  wolf — the  most  sought 
after  by  the  hunter,  the  deer.  In  the  earliest 
commercial  intercourse  of  Indian  and  white  man, 
the  medium  was  maize. 

There  were  no  carriages  nor  carriage  roads.  All 
traveling  was  on  foot  or  horseback,  and  when  the 
first  English  settlement  began,  in  almost  every 
twenty  miles  you  would  find  an  Indian  village. 

As  the  soil  came  under  more  skillful  cultivation 
and  the  colonist  took  the  place  of  the  Indian  in 
field  work,  the  harvests  became  more  abundant, 
and  the  rich  grasses  which  grew  as  high  as  the  tops 
of  the  fences,  became  very  valuable  as  butter  and 
cheese.  Thus  farming  was  carried  on  on  a  large 
scale,  and  dairy  farms  gave  employment  to  many 
hands.  The  Stanton  farm  was  four  miles  long 
by  two  miles  wide,  and  was  cultivated  by  forty 
horses  and  forty  slaves.  The  Champlin  farm  was 
a  tract  of  a  thousand  acres,  feeding  thirty-five 
horses,  fifty-five  cows,  from  six  to  seven  hundred 
sheep,  and  slaves  enough  to  tend  and  utilize  them 
all.  Robert  Hazard  owned  sixteen  hundred  acres 
on  Boston  Neck,  and  several  thousand  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Pettaquamscot  River.  On  one  of  these 
farms  grazed  a  hundred  and  ten  cows,  two  hun- 
dred loads  of  hay  were  cut,  thirteen  thousand 
pounds  of  cheese  were  made,  and  from  seventy  to 
eighty  pounds  of  butter.  The  products  on  which 
all  this  labor  was  bestowed,  were  corn,  tobacco, 
cheese  and  wool.  The  work  was  done  by  slaves 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  267 

and  Indians.  The  cheese  resembled  in  flavor  and 
color  the  rich  Cheshire  cheese  of  England.  Some 
attention  was  also  given  to  fattening  bullocks  and 
raising  horses,  and  cutting  hay  and  grain  for  the 
West  Indies. 

On  Isaac  P.  Hazard's  farm  twelve  negro  women 
were  employed  in  making  cheese,  each  woman 
having  a  girl  under  her  and  making  from  twelve 
to  twenty-four  cheeses  a  day.  So  rich  and  luxu- 
riant was  the  grass  that  his  hundred  and  fifty 
cows  gave  double  the  quantity  of  milk  that  cows 
give  on  the  same  farms  now.  Four  thousand 
sheep  furnished  the  materials  for  the  woolen 
cloths  of  his  numerous  household,  and  extensive 
hemp  fields  the  linen,  both  being  woven  in  his 
own  looms.  This  Hazard,  when  years  came  upon 
him,  gave  over  the  management  of  his  estate  into 
the  hands  of  his  children,  and  congratulated  him- 
self that  he  thenceforth  had  only  seventy  mouths 
to  provide  for  between  parlor  and  kitchen. 

Traveling,  as  I  have  already  stated,  was  on 
horseback,  and  a  servant  well  mounted  always 
went  with  the  master  to  open  the  gates.  The 
roads  were  mere  driftways.  A  generous  hos- 
pitality left  the  inns  to  justices'  courts,  town 
councils  and  tipplers.  The  guest  chamber  was 
seldom  empty,  and  the  fireside  all  the  more 
cheerful  for  the  face  of  a  stranger. 

Public  provisions  for  education  were  insuffi- 
cient. Their  place  was  supplied  for  boys  by 
private  tutors,  or  by  board  in  the  family  of  a 


268  HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

learned  clergyman  to  prepare  them  for  college. 
The  girls  were  sometimes  sent  to  Boston  to  study 
accomplishments.  They  loved  reading,  each  gen- 
eration having  its  favorite  in  verse  and  in  prose. 
Of  those  nearest  to  us  Pope  was  the  poet.  Pri- 
vate libraries  were  numerous  and  well  selected, 
though  not  large. 

Amusements  took  their  character  from  country 
life.  The  young  men  loved  races  on  the  beach 
with  their  Narragansett  pacers,  and  a  silver  tank- 
ard for  the  winner.  They  all  loved  quahaug 
roasts  on  the  shores,  where  deep  beds  of  shells 
still  remain  to  bear  witness  to  their  festivities. 
They  loved  to  hunt  the  fox  and  the  deer  with  hound 
and  horn,  and  exercise  their  skill  in  starting  and 
following  up  the  partridge  and  woodcock  and 
quail.  They  would  lie  on  the  frozen  ground  in 
the  cold  winter  dawn  to  get  a  shot  at  a  duck  or  a 
wild  goose  and  trap  the  timid  rabbit  in  snow. 
No  hardship  was  too  great  that  brought  them  to 
their  game.  In  May  they  went  in  merry  parties 
to  Hartford  to  eat  bloated  salmon. 

In  such  a  state  of  society  weddings  were  great 
festivals,  and  more  especially  for  the  display  of 
dress.  The  bride  came  robed  in  stiff  brocade 
with  towering  head  dress  and  high  heeled  shoes. 
The  bridegroom,  in  scarlet  coat,  his  limbs  clad  in 
small-cloths  and  silken  hose,  with  laced  ruffles  on 
his  wrists,  and  brilliant  buckles  on  his  shoes,  and 
his  hair  curled  and  frizzled,  or  suspended  behind 
in  a  queue.  Friends  and  kindred  came  from  far 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  269 

and  near,  sometimes  as  many  as  six  hundred  be- 
ing gathered  to  witness  the  nuptial  rites  and 
join  in  the  wedding  dance. 

But  the  great  pastime  for  young  and  old,  for 
matron  and  maid  and  for  youth  just  blushing  into 
manhood,  was  the  autumn  husking,  when  neigh- 
bors met  at  each  other's  corn-yards  to  husk  each 
other's  corn;  sometimes  husking  a  thousand 
bushels  in  a  single  meeting.  Husking  had  its 
laws,  and  never  were  laws  better  obeyed.  For 
every  red  ear  the  lucky  swain  could  claim  a  kiss 
from  every  maid  ;  with  every  smoot  ear  he 
smooched  the  faces  of  his  mates  amid  laughter 
and  joyous  shoutings  ;  but  when  the  prize  fell  to 
a  girl  she  would  walk  the  round  demurely,  look 
each  eager  aspirant  in  the  face,  and  hide  or  reveal 
the  secret  of  her  heart  by  a  kiss.  Then  came  the 
dance  and  supper,  running  deep  into  the  night 
and  often  encroaching  upon  the  early  dawn. 

I  have  spoken  -of  slavery  and  the  repeated  at- 
tempts Rhode  Island  made  to  shake  it  off.  The 
number  of  slaves  was  not  large,  and  for  the  most 
part  they  were  treated  kindly.  Still  servitude 
implied  degradation,  and  the  habit  of  looking 
down  upon  human  beings  could  not  but  react 
unfavorably  upon  the  character  and  habits  of  the 
masters  themselves.  It  was  a  softening  of  their 
lot  that  in  the  regular  festivals  the  negroes  had 
their  share,  their  dances  and  their  suppers,  and 
even  their  elections,  when  they  elected  and  in- 
stalled their  governor,  and  feasted  luxuriously  at 
the  expense  of  their  masters. 


CHAPTEE  XXX. 

COMMERCIAL   GROWTH  AND  PROSPERITY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND. 

RHODE  ISLAND  came  well  prepared  to  her  new 
duties.  She  had  worked  out  in  her  own  experi- 
ence the  most  important  problems  of  civil  or- 
ganization, rendering  "unto  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Csesar'  s,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are 
God's."  Her  legislation  was  the  reflection  of  her 
culture,  and  her  statute  book  the  record  of  her 
progress  in  the  science  of  self-government.  Her 
colonial  life  had  been  a  constant  struggle  with 
jealous  neighbors  who  coveted  her  beautiful  bay 
and  detested  her  "soul  liberty."  Out  of  this 
struggle  she  came  stronger  and  more  resolute  for 
the  discipline  it  gave  her,  yet  not  without  some 
marks  of  the  strife.  She  had  learned  to  appre- 
hend danger  from  afar  off  and  cultivate  jealousy 
as  a  safeguard,  and  hence  she  sometimes  as  in  her 
refusal  to  grant  the  impost  duty,  was  guided  by 
a  keen  sense  of  her  rights  as  a  sovereign  state, 
rather  than  a  deep  conviction  of  her  obligations 
as  member  of  a  confederation.  Hence  also,  she 
had  hesitated  three  years  on  the  borders  of  union, 
and  seen  her  sister  states  enter  it  one  by  one 
before  she  could  bring  herself  to  make  over  to 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  271 

a  central  government  even  those  portions  of 
authority  which  a  central  government  could 
administer  so  much  more  in  her  interest  than 
she.  But  she  was  wiser  for  the  struggle,  and 
full  of  resolution  and  hope  entered  boldly  upon 
her  new  career, 

We  have  seen  that  Rhode  Island  began  very 
early  to  seek  her  fortune  on  the  water.  Ship 
building  was  one  of  the  earliest  forms  which  her 
enterprise  assumed.  Already  in  March,  1790, 
the  shipping  of  Providence  alone  consisted  of 
nine  ships,  thirty-six  brigs,  forty-five  sloops  and 
twenty  schooners,  forming  in  all  a  tonnage  of  ten 
thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety.  To  man  this 
commercial  fleet  the  same  town  had  a  population 
of  six  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty  to 
draw  from.  Newport,  though  no  longer  holding 
the  same  position  which  she  held  before  the  war, 
was  still  an  active  seaport.  The  population  of 
the  whole  State  had  risen  to  sixty-eight  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-five. 

The  most  active  commerce  had  been  that  of  the 
West  Indies.  But  with  peace  a  wider  field  was 
opened,  and  ships  sent  directly  to  the  East  Indies. 
Raw  material  of  various  kinds  was  sent  to  Europe, 
and  European  manufactures  brought  back  in 
return.  It  was  soon  evident  that  the  new  State 
would  profit  England  more  by  equal  commerce 
than  by  dependence.  Yet  it  was  not  all  at  once 
that  the  financial  errors  of  the  Revolution  could 
be  repaired,  or  the  bitterness  engendered  by  civil 


272  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

war  assuaged.  A  deep  rooted  hostility  to  England 
had  taken  hold  of  many  minds,  to  bear  its  fruits 
when  republican  France  claimed  sympathy  as  a 
sister  republic. 

We  have  already  registered  the  birth  of  manu- 
factures. Circumstances  favored  their  growth 
and  prepared  the  way  for  a  development  which  has 
made  the  smallest  one  of  the  richest  states  of  the 
Union.  A  great  river  runs  through  it,  widening  at 
its  mouth  into  a  spacious  bay.  Deep  ponds  of 
pure  water  dot  its  surface,  and  limpid  stream- 
lets which  swell  with  every  rain  send  from  every 
upland  their  tributes  to  the  bay.  How  should 
these  waters  be  subjected  to  the  will  of  man  ? 
Samuel  Slater,  a  native  of  Derbyshire,  had  served 
an  apprenticeship  to  Jedediah  Strutt,  the  partner 
of  Arkwright,  and  learned  the  secret  of  the  new 
method  of  spinning  cotton.  Heavy  penalties 
were  affixed  to  the  exportation  of  the  new 
machinery.  But  Slater  had  made  himself  master 
of  the  theory  as  well  as  the  practice  of  the  art, 
and  seems  to  have  been  casting  about  him  for  a 
way  of  turning  his  knowledge  to  account,  when 
he  learned  that  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  had 
offered  a  bounty  for  the  introduction  of  it. 
Thus  American  manufactures  owe  their  birth  to 
protection.  The  story  was  a  simple  one.  Slater 
came  to  America  bringing  the  secret  with  him. 
In  Moses  Brown,  of  Providence,  he  found  a 
judicious  counselor,  in  William  Almy  and  Smith 
Brown  enterprising  capitalists.  On  the  21st  of 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND.  273 

December,  1790,  and  on  the  Pawtucket  River,  the 
first  factory  went  into  operation.  On  that  day 
and  by  the  hand  of  Samuel  Slater,  the  destiny 
of  Rhode  Island  was  decided. 

In  these  days  of  mingled  hope  and  fear,  on  the 
19th  of  July,  1785,  closed  the  long  and  useful 
career  of  Stephen  Hopkins,  whose  name  is  closely 
interwoven  with  all  that  is  greatest  and  best  in 
Rhode  Island  history  ;  an  astronomer  of  no  mean 
pretensions,  a  statesman  of  broad  views  and  deep 
penetration,  a  supreme  executive,  prompt,  ener- 
getic and  fearless,  a  genial  companion  when  wise 
men  relax  from  care,  and  a  trusty  counselor  when 
the  duties  of  life  bear  heaviest  on  the  scrupulous 
conscience. 

The  tranquil  growth  of  manufactures  affords 
few  materials  for  general  history,  in  which  it  ap- 
pears by  its  results  rather  than  by  its  processes. 
Statistics  take  the  place  of  narrative,  and  except 
in  controlling  and  inventive  minds  the  story  of 
man  himself  is  the  story  of  a  machine. 

Meanwhile  another  seed  was  sown  in  this  fruit- 
ful ground,  and  another  name  was  associated  with 
a  great  public  benefaction,  the  name  of  John  How- 
land,  a  native  of  Newport,  but  from  his  ninth 
year  a  resident  of  Providence  and  a  barber  by 
trade,  became,  in  1799,  the  father  of  the  free  school 
system  of  Rhode  Island.  Not  all  at  once  was 
this  good  work  done,  but  slowly  and  in  spite  of 
much  opposition,  chiefly  from  the  poor  who  were 
to  profit  most  by  it.  Years  were  yet  to  pass 

18 


274  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

before  the  pride  as  well  as  the  consciences  of  the 
people  became  enlisted  in  its  behalf. 

In  the  commercial  history  of  the  State  the 
foundation  of  the  Providence  Bank,  in  1791,  was 
an  event  of  great  importance,  to  be  followed  at 
intervals  by  others  with  various  degrees  of  suc- 
cess. But  among  them  all  not  one  bore  so 
directly  upon  the  moral  growth  of  the  commun- 
ity as  the  Providence  Institution  for  Savings, 
founded  in  1819. 

Great  hopes  were  founded  on  a  canal  connect- 
ing the  tide-water  of  Providence  River  with  the 
north  line  of  the  State.  A  company  for  this 
purpose  was  formed  in  1796,  and  so  great  was 
the  confidence  which  the  undertaking  inspired, 
that  John  Brown,  a  leading  merchant  of  Provi- 
dence, subscribed  forty  thousand  dollars  to  the 
stock.  The  project  failed,  and  though  enthusias- 
tically renewed  in  1823,  failed  again  and  forever. 

The  yellow  fever  belongs  to  our  record,  and 
Rhode  Island  came  in  for  a  full  share  of  the 
destruction  occasioned  by  the  September  gale  of 
1815.  Most  towns  hand  down  from  generation  to 
generation  the  story  of  some  great  fire  which 
swept  over  it  in  its  young  days,  leaving  ruin  and 
desolation  in  its  path.  The  "great  fire"  of 
Providence  was  the  fire  of  1801,  the  memory  of 
which  still  lives  in  the  traditions  of  our  own 
generation. 

Pleasant  memories  also  belong  to  our  record. 
When  Washington  made  his  first  visit  to  the 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  275 

East  as  President,  Rhode  Island  had  not  yet 
entered  the  Union.  When  she  did  he  made  a 
second  visit  to  the  East  in  recognition  of  her 
accession,  and  was  enthusiastically  welcomed. 
He  had  already  been  there  under  very  different 
circumstances  during  the  war. 

We  have  spoken  of  John  Howland  as  a  public 
benefactor.  Another  of  these  benefactors  of 
their  race  was  Ebenezer  Knight  Dexter,  founder 
of  the  Dexter  Asylum,  who  having  amassed  a 
large  fortune  in  honorable  commerce,  gave  sixty 
thousand  dollars  of  it  to  the  support  of  the 
poor.  A  still  more  important  movement  was 
made  in  the  interest  of  the  poor,  when  the  first 
temperance  meeting  was  held  in  Providence  in 
1827. 

We  saw  how  a  charter  had  been  granted  to 
Newport  and  taken  from  her.  In  1829  an  attempt 
was  made  to  obtain  a  charter  for  Providence  and 
failed.  Two  years  later  a  serious  riot  occurred 
in  which  some  property  was  destroyed  and  some 
lives  were  lost.  It  became  evident  to  the  friends 
of  good  order  that  a  more  efficient  government  was 
required  to  hold  in  check  a  population  of  sixteen 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-two  souls  ;  for 
to  that  number  had  Providence  risen  in  1830.  A 
charter  was  applied  for  and  easily  obtained,  and 
on  the  22d  of  November,  1832,  the  Town  of 
Providence  became  a  city.  Samuel  W.  Bridgham 
was  the  first  Mayor. 

Though  never  the  seat  of  war  during  the  war  of 


276  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

1812,  the  name  of  Rhode  Island  is  closely  con- 
nected with  it,  through  Oliver  H.  Perry,  one  of 
the  greatest  of  naval  commanders.  She  bore  her 
part  also  in  the  sufferings  occasioned  by  the 
embargo,  and  the  other  rash  measures  of  a  gov- 
ernment which  rushed  headlong  and  wholly  un- 
prepared into  a  war  with  the  most  powerful  nation 
on  earth.  Fully  sharing  also  in  the  just  discon- 
tent of  the  Eastern  States,  she  sent  four  delegates 
to  the  much  maligned  Hartford  Convention. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

THE  DORR  REBELLION. 

WE  have  seen  that  the  relation  of  the  citizen 
to  the  State  became  the  subject  of  attention  and 
experiment  at  an  early  period  in  the  history  of 
Rhode  Island.  Although  an  avowed  democracy, 
she  regarded  suffrage  not  as  an  inherent  right, 
but  as  a  privilege  dependent  upon  the  fulfillment 
of  certain  specified  conditions.  Inequality  of 
representation  was  a  natural  consequence  of  the 
unequally  increased  population ;  some  towns 
growing  faster  than  others,  but  having  no  more 
voice  in  legislation  than  they  had  had  at  the  be- 
ginning of  their  civil  existence.  The  right  to  vote 
was  held  to  be  an  important  right,  and  great  pains 
were  taken  to  secure  purity  at  the  polls.  But  it 
was  evident  that  all  the  tax-payers  would  sooner 
or  later  claim  to  be  voters.  This  question  recurs 
from  time  to  time  in  all  its  ramifications,  and 
though  long  deferred,  became  at  last  the  chief 
question  of  Rhode  Island  politics. 

For  more  than  two-thirds  of  a  century  she  had 
lived  under  the  Charter  of  Charles  II.,  first  as  a 
Colony  and  lastly  as  a  State.  This  Charter  was 
framed  in  the  broad  and  liberal  spirit  of  Roger 
Williams  and  John  Clarke,  and  left  room  for 


278  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

large  developments  in  every  department  of  legiti- 
mate thought  and  action. 

Unfortunately  what  might  have  been  brought 
about  by  peaceful  discussion  was  gradually 
fanned  into  the  fiercest  flame.  Providence  had 
entirely  outgrown  her  old  rival,  Xewport,  and 
yet  Newport  had  a  representation  of  six  in  the 
Assembly,  and  Providence  of  only  four.  In  other 
towns  the  disproportion  was  equally  great.  The 
property  qualification  also,  a  freehold  of  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  dollars,  was  bitterly  opposed 
by  those  who  had  no  freehold.  In  1840  seventy- 
two  representatives  were  chosen.  Thirty-eight 
were  chosen  from  towns  having  only  twenty-nine 
thousand  and  twenty  inhabitants  and  two  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  forty- six  voters,  and  the 
remaining  thirty-four  came  from  towns  which  had 
only  seventy-nine  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
four  inhabitants,  and  five  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-six  voters. 

Equally  irritating  to  those  who  had  no  share 
in  it  was  the  right  conferred  by  primogeniture. 

For  many  years  these  questions  were  prominent 
subjects  of  discussion,  and  were  even  brought 
forward  as  the  most  important  objects  of  legisla- 
tive action.  But  no  relief  could  be  obtained  from 
the  Assembly,  for  the  Assembly  itself  was  chiefly 
composed  of  the  privileged  classes.  From  the 
Assembly  there  was  but  one  appeal — the  appeal 
to  the  people,  and  upon  the  form  of  this  appeal 
lay  the  choice  between  reform  and  revolution. 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

This  is  the  event  known  in  Rhode  Island  history 
as  the  Dorr  Rebellion. 

The  first  step  towards  action  was  the  formation 
of  suffrage  associations,  by  which  the  public 
mind  was  excited  and  the  popular  will  roused  to 
exertion.  All  through  the  last  weeks  of  1840 
and  the  first  weeks  of  1841,  these  associations 
were  busy  in  guiding,  kindling  and  stimulating 
the  popular  mind,  and  preparing  it  for  decisive 
action.  All  classes  were  roused,  for  the  contest 
was  at  every  door,  and  every  citizen  was  equally 
interested  in  the  result. 

The  suffrage  associations  did  their  work  actively 
and  well.  By  the  5th  of  July,  1841,  a  mass  con- 
vention was  held  in  Providence,  and  the  State 
Committee  was  authorized  to  call  a  convention 
for  the  formation  of  a  Constitution.  Confident 
of  their  strength  the  committee  set  themselves 
to  their  task.  On  the  28th  of  August  delegates 
were  chosen,  and  on  the  4th  of  October  the  con- 
vention met.  In  this  convention  a  Constitution 
was  framed,  and  in  December  sent  out  to  the  peo- 
ple as  the  People's  Constitution.  Fourteen  thou- 
sand voters,  a  majority,  it  was  claimed,  of  all  the 
male  adult  voters  in  the  State,  cast  their  votes 
for  it.  It  claimed  to  be  the  will  'of  the  people 
authoritatively  expressed.  There  was  one  more 
step  to  take,  the  consequence  and  complement  of 
all  that  had  hitherto  been  done,  to  complete  the 
organization  by  the  election  of  officers.  The  18th 
of  April,  1842,  was  fixed  upon  for  this  gravest 


280  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

function  of  freemen,  and  Thomas  Wilson  Dorr,  of 
Providence,  was  chosen  Governor. 

Votes  had  done  all  that  the  mere  expression  of 
opinion  could  do.  But  underlying  every  lawful 
vote  was  the  law  which  gave  it  validity,  and  this 
law  had  prescribed  the  form  and  manner  in  which 
these  votes  became  effective.  It  had  said  that 
while  the  source  of  all  power  was  in  the  people, 
the  people  themselves  in  order  to  secure  progress 
and  guard  against  revolution  had  set  limits  to 
their  authority,  and  told  when,  where  and  for 
what  it  should  be  employed. 

And  now  it  was  seen  that  there  was  another 
government  which  claimed  to  be  in  sole  possession 
of  this  power,  and  the  moment  that  the  new  gov- 
ernment attempted  to  perform  its  executive  func- 
tions it  found  itself  face  to  face  with  the  old.  It 
was  evident  that  one  of  the  two  parties  must  give 
way  or  there  must  be  a  collision  and  bloodshed. 

The  first  attempt  of  the  Suffragists  to  organize 
was  made  at  Providence  on  the  3d  of  May,  and 
was  repelled.  The  moral  strength  was  with  the 
charter  government  which  had  the  chartered 
companies,  the  organized  militia  and  a  strong 
body  of  volunteers  at  its  control.  It  had  also 
the  strong  moral  support  of  that  clause  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  which  guaran- 
tees to  every  state  a  republican  government  and 
protection  against  internal  violence.  Should 
Federal  intervention  become  necessary,  the  time 
and  the  form  of  it  had  been  provided  for.  But 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  281 

it  was  not  needed.  We  have  seen  that  on  the  3d 
of  May  the  government  of  Governor  Dorr  had 
attempted  to  displace  the  government  of  Gov- 
ernor King,  and  failed.  On  the  18th  an  attempt 
was  made  to  seize  the  Arsenal,  which  also  failed. 
Men  who  had  grown  up  side  by  side  in  peaceful 
intimacy,  had  seized  their  arms  under  a  strong 
political  excitement,  but  when  the  moment  for 
using  them  came,  shrank  from  the  fearful  respon- 
sibility. Hundreds  would  have  fought  gallantly, 
but  no  one  was  prepared  to  begin.  And  thus 
when  on  the  25th  of  June  an  attempt  was  made 
to  make  a  stand  at  Chepachet,  the  Suffragists  gave 
way  at  the  approach  of  the  State  troops,  and  re- 
turned to  their  homes  without  shedding  a  drop 
of  blood.  By  the  28th  of  June  all  was  over. 
The  great  body  of  the  insurgents  went  quietly 
back  to  their  stores  and  their  farms.  Their  leader 
was  tried  for  treason  and  condemned  to  imprison- 
ment for  life.  But  Rhode  Island  was  not  a  place 
where  so  severe  a  punishment  could  be  meted  out 
to  such  an  offence.  In  1847  an  act  of  general 
amnesty  set  him  free,  and  in  1851  he  was  restored 
to  his  political  and  civil  rights.  Forgiveness  went 
still  further,  and  his  sentence  was  reversed  as 
illegal  and  unjust.  But  the  Supreme  Court 
refused  to  sustain  this  reversal  as  an  assumption 
of  judicial  authority  by  the  Legislature.  Dorr's 
early  death  left  him  no  time  for  new  aspirations. 
Meanwhile  a  new  Convention  for  the  framing 
of  a  new  Constitution  had  been  called  by  the 


282  HISTORY   OF   EHODE   ISLAND. 

regularly  constituted  authorities,  and  a  new  draft 
submitted  to  the  people.  But  this  also  was  re- 
jected. Another  attempt  was  made,  another 
convention  called.  Argument  and  discussion 
were  exhausted.  The  popular  mind  was  prepared 
for  decision.  The  popular  will  called  for  it.'  The 
last  day  of  the  old  Charter  was  come.  At  an 
adjourned  meeting  of  the  convention,  held  at 
East  Greenwich  on  the  5th  of  November,  a  final 
decision  was  reached  and  a  Constitution  unani- 
mously agreed  upon.  On  the  first  Tuesday  in 
May,  1843,  it  went  into  operation. 

And  thus  Rhode  Island,  while  she  adhered 
firmly  to  the  principle  of  freedom  of  opinion, 
adhered  no  less  firmly  to  the  principle  of  law 
and  order.  The  Dorr  Rebellion  was  the  resist- 
ance of  law  to  revolution,  of  order  to  the  arbitrary 
assumption  of  power.  Rhode  Island  had  begun 
her  career  by  a  practical  profession  of  freedom  of 
thought  and  freedom  of  speech.  She  had  strug- 
gled long  and  hard  to  secure  them  both,  and  now 
the  day  of  reward  was  at  hand.  Henceforth  the 
industries  of  peace  will  bring  her  wealth  from 
the  land  and  the  sea,  the  salubrity  of  her  climate 
will  raise  up  on  her  inland  and  on  her  shores 
a  thriving  and  vigorous  population,  and  while  in 
some  things  she  will  take  the  lead  of  her  sister 
states,  in  no  thing  will  she  fall  far  behind. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

LIFE    UNDEH  THE  CONSTITUTION. — THE  WAR    OP  THE 
REBELLION.— THE  CENTENARY. 

WITH  the  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution 
business  returned  to  its  natural  channels.  Party 
animosities  lost  somewhat  of  their  bitterness  as 
the  various  forms  of  industry  revived,  and  old 
friends  were  again  brought  into  daily  communi- 
cation under  the  healing  influence  of  common 
interests  and  common  pleasures.  The  story  of 
these  calm  pursuits  brings  out  in  pleasant  relief 
the  every-day  virtues  of  domestic  life  and  the 
higher  qualities  of  combination  and  invention, 
but  it  seldom  addresses  itself  to  the  imagination, 
or  excites  and  surprises  by  glowing  appeals  to  the 
passions.  The  happiest  periods  of  history  are 
those  which  are  the  most  barren  of  incident. 

Meanwhile  one  of  the  great  epochs  of  our  his- 
tory was  at  hand,  and  Rhode  Island  was  again 
called  upon  to  furnish  the  materials  for  battles 
which  were  to  be  fought  at  a  distance  from  her 
own  soil.  The  war  of  secession  found  her,  like 
her  sisters,  unprepared  for  the  great  struggle  in 
which  humanity  had  so  much  at  stake,  and  which 
soon  made  it  manifest  that  industrious  peace  is 
the  best  of  preparations  for  a  war  of  principle. 
Within  three  days  after  President  Lincoln  issued 


284  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

his  proclamation  calling  for  troops  for  the  de- 
fence of  Washington,  a  body  of  Rhode  Islanders, 
well  armed  and  equipped,  was  on  its  way  thither. 
As  the  war  continued  she  still  met  its  increasing 
demands,  till  the  sum-total  of  her  contributions 
amounted  to  twenty-four  thousand  and  forty-two, 
upon  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-five.  Of 
these,  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  were  killed  ;  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty -three  died  of 
wounds  or  disease ;  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  forty-nine  were  wounded. 

As  some  readers  may  wish  for  more  detail,  I 
give  the  following  statement,  for  which  I  am  in- 
debted to  the  politeness  of  Adjutant-General 
Heber  Le  Favour  : 

"  There  went  into  the  field  from  Rhode  Island 
during  the  late  rebellion,  twenty-four  thousand 
and  forty- two  men  ;  of  which  the  infantry  num- 
bered ten  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-two  ; 
cavalry,  four  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
four  ;  heavy  artillery,  five  thousand  six  hundred 
and  forty-four ;  light  artillery,  two  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  seventy-seven ;  navy,  six  hundred 
arid  forty-five.  This  number  is  in  excess  of  the 
actual  number  of  persons  furnished  by  the  State, 
as  many  of  them  appear  several  times  on  the 
record  under  the  head  of  promotions  or  re-enlist- 
ments after  discharge  from  their  three  months, 
nine  months,  or  three  years  terms  of  service. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty-five  were  killed,  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  died  of 


HISTOKY    OF   KHODE   ISLAND.  285 

wounds  or  disease,  and  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  forty -nine  were  wounded.  There  were  eight 
regiments  of  infantry,  of  which  three  were  for  three 
months  and  two  for  nine  months.  There  were  three 
regiments  of  cavalry  for  three  years,  and  one  squa- 
dron for  three  months.  There  were  three  regiments 
of  heavy  artillery.  There  was  one  regiment  of 
light  artillery,  composed  of  eight  light  batteries, 
and  there  were  also  two  light  batteries  for  three 
months  service.  One  company  of  infantry  was 
stationed  at  Portsmouth  Grove  as  Hospital 
Guards." 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1876,  the  United  States  of 
America  ended  the  first  century  of  their  national 
existence  ;  a  century  of  marvellous  experiences 
throughout  the  civilized  world  ;  of  experiences 
in  the  science  of  government,  which  bear  directly 
upon  the  moral  development  of  man  and  experien- 
ces in  the  physical  sciences  which  minister  directly 
and  indirectly  both  to  his  material  wants  and  to 
the  demands  of  his  intellectual  nature.  Civiliza- 
tion had  reached  in  those  hundred  years  a  height 
and  a  completeness  which  it  had  never  reached 
before. 

Proud  of  what  they  had  done,  confident  of 
what  they  could  do,  they  invited  the  other  civil- 
ized nations,  their  elders  by  centuries,  to  bring 
the  choicest  productions  of  their  art  and  industry 
and  set  them  side  by  side  with  those  of  the  young 
republic.  In  this  comparison  how  well  Rhode 
Island  bore  her  part  the  following  list  will  show  : 


286  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Rhode  Island  was  conspicuous  at  the  Exposi- 
tion for  the  excellence  of  her  products  in  the  fol- 
lowing departments :  * 

First — Machinery,  including  new  inventions. 

Second— Cotton  fabrics,  including  sheeting  and 
shirting,  calico,  fine  muslins,  jeans,  drillings,  etc. 

Third — Woolen  fabrics,  broad  cloths,  cassi- 
meres,  shawls,  worsteds,  etc. 

Fourth — Wood  screws.  (American  Screw  Co., 
Providence.) 

Fifth  --  Fire-arms,  rifles,  carabines  chiefly. 
The  Peabody -Martini  rifle  furnished  the  Turkish 
government  an  arm  of  great  excellence.  (Provi- 
dence Tool  Co.) 

Sixth — Fabrics  of  India  rubber.  (The  Bristol 
Works.) 

Seventh — Silver  and  plated  ware.     (Gorham's.) 

Eighth — Steam  engines. 

Ninth — Hair  cloth.  (Various  companies  in 
Pawtucket. 

Tenth — Files  and  mechanics'  tools. 

Eleventh — Stoves  and  furnaces.  (Chiefly  the 
product  of  the  Barstow  Works.) 

Twelfth — Chemical  manufactures. 


*  For  the  above  list  I  am  indebted  to  my  friend,  Hon.  J.  K.  Bartlott,  to  whom 
Rhode  Island  is  indebted  for  the  preservation  and  publication  of  her  Colonial 
Records. 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  287 

And  here  I  stay  my  hand.  I  have  spoken 
kindly  of  the  State  of  my  birth,  but  mindful  of 
the  historian's  first  duty,  I  have  striven  in  every 
thing  to  speak  truthfully.  It  is  an  unvarnished 
tale,  and  yet  there  is  a  moral  grandeur  in  it  far 
beyond  the  grandeur  of  battle-fields  and  thrones. 
By  deep  and  earnest  convictions,  by  unwavering 
faith  and  unshaken  resolution,  Rhode  Island  has 
worked  out  for  herself  and  for  mankind  one  of 
the  grandest  problems  of  civilization. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  history  that  it  teaches  by 
examples.  It  is  good  for  man  that  such  men 
as  Roger  Williams  and  John  Clark,  should  have 
lived.  It  is  for  the  glory  of  Rhode  Island  that 
men  like  these,  searching  for  a  spot  whereon  they 
might  build  and  live  with  unfettered  consciences, 
should  have  chosen  her  for  their  dwelling  place. 


AUTHOR'S  NOTES. 

( Re/e.rriny  to  page  106.)  This  is  not  strictly  accurate.  It  was  in 
honor  of  Nicholas,  not  John  Brown,  and  several  years  after  its 
removal  from  Warren  to  Providence,  that  the  name  of  Rhode  Island 
College  was  changed  to  Brown  University. 

It  was  in  July,  1777,  during  the  occupation  of  Newport  by  the  British . 
that  William  Barton,  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  Rhode  Island  militia, 
performed  his  hrilliant  exploit  of  the  capture  of  the  British  General 
1'rescott  ;  passing  three  British  frigates  unobserved  and  carrying  off 
the  British  General  in  his  night-clothes.  Congress  rewarded  him  with 
a  gift  of  a  sword,  and  what  was  still  more  valuable,  a  commission  as 
Colonel  in  the  Continental  armv. 


(Barter, 


GRANTED   BY  KING    CHARLES  II., 

July  8,  1663,  and  in  force  until  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
November,  1842. 


CHARLES  the  Second,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  England,  Scot- 
land, France  and  Ireland,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  &c.,  to  all  to  whom 
these  presents  shall  come,  greeting:  Whereas,  we  have  been  informed, 
by  the  humble  petition  of  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  subject,  John 
Clarke,  on  the  behalf  of  Benjamin  Arnold,  William  Brenton,  William 
Codington,  Nicholas  Easton,  William  Boulston,  John  Porter,  John 
Smith,  Samuel  Gorton,  John  Weeks,  Koger  Williams,  Thomas  Olney, 
Gregory  Dexter,  John  Coggeshall,  Joseph  Clarke,  Randall  Holden, 
John  Greene,  John  Roome,  Samuel  Wildbore,  William  Field,  James 
Barker,  Richard  Tew,  Thomas  Harris,  and  William  Dyre,  and  the 
rest  of  the  purchasers  and  free  inhabitants  of  our  island,  called  Rhode 
Island,  and  the  rest  of  the  Colony  of  Providence  Plantations,  in  the 
Narragansett  Bay,  in  New  England,  in  America,  that  they,  pursuing, 
with  peaceable  and  loyal  minds,  their  sober,  serious,  and  religious 
intentions,  of  godly  edifying  themselves,  and  one  another,  in  the  holy 
Christian  faith  and  worship,  as  they  were  persuaded;  together  with 
the  gaining  over  and  conversion  of  the  poor  ignorant  Indian  natives, 
in  those  parts  of  America  to  the  sincere  profession  and  obedience  of 
the  same  faith  and  worship,  did,  not  only  by  the  consent  and  good 
encouragement  of  our  royal  progenitors,  transport  themselves  out  of  this 
kingdom  of  England  into  America,  but  also,  since  their  arrival  there, 
after  their  first  settlement  amongst  other  our  subjects  in  those  parts, 
for  the  avoiding  of  discord,  and  those  many  evils  which  were  likely  to 
ensue  upon  some  of  those  our  subjects  not  being  able  to  bear,  in  these 
remote  parts,  their  different  apprehensions  in  religious  concernments, 
and  in  pursuance  of  the  aforesaid  ends,  did  once  again  leave  their 
desirable  stations  and  habitations,  and  with  excessive  labor  and  travel, 
hazard  and  charge  did  transplant  themselves  into  the  midst  of  the 
Indian  natives,  who,  as  we  are  informed,  are  the  most  potent  princes 
and  people  of  all  that  country;  where,  by  the  good  Providence  of  God, 
from  whom  the  Plantations  have  taken  their  name,  upon  their  labor 
and  industry,  they  have  not  only  been  preserved  to  admiration,  but 
have  increased  and  prospered,  and  are  seized  and  possessed,  by  pur- 
chase and  consent  of  the  said  natives,  to  their  full  content,  of  such 
lands,  islands,  rivers,  harbors  and  roads,  as  are  very  convenient,  both 
for  plantations,  and  also  for  building  of  ships,  supply  of  pipe-staves, 
and  other  merchandize;  and  which  lie  very  commodious,  in  many 
respects,  for  commerce,  and  to  accommodate  our  southern  plantations, 


292  HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

and  may  much  advance  the  trade  of  this  our  realm,  and  greatly 
enlarge  the  the  territories  tin-roof;  they  having  by  near  neighborhood 
to  and  friendly  society  with  the  great  body  of  the  Narraganaett  Indians, 
given  them  encouragement  of  their  own  accord,  to  subject  themselves, 
their  people  and  lands,  unto  us;  whereby,  as  is  hoped, -there  may,  in 
time,  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  their  endeavors  be  laid  a  sure 
foundation  of  happiness  to  all  America:  And  whereas,  in  their  bum- 
ble address,  they  have  freely  declared,  that  it  is  much  on  their  hearts 
(if  they  may  be  permitted)  to  hold  forth  a  lively  experiment,  that  a 
most  nourishing  civil  state  may  stand  and  best  be  maintained,  and 
that  among  our  English  subjects,  with  a  full  liberty  in  religious  con- 
cernments; and  that  true  piety  rightly  grounded  upon  gospel  princi- 
ples, will  give  the  best  and  greatest  security  to  sovereignty,  and  will 
lay  in  the  hearts  of  men  the  strongest  obligations  to  true  loyalty: 
Now,  know  ye,  that  we,  being  willing  to  encourage  the  hopeful  under- 
taking of  our  said  loyal  and  loving  subjects,  and  to  secure  them  in  the 
free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  all  their  civil  and  religious  rights, 
appertaining  to  them,  as  our  loving  subjects;  and  to  preserve  unto 
them  that  liberty,  in  the  true  Christian  faith  and  worship  of  God, 
which  they  have  sought  with  so  much  travail,  and  with  peaceable 
minds,  and  loyal  subjection  to  our  royal  progenitors  and  ourselves,  to 
enjoy;  and  because  some  of  the  people  and  inhabitants  of  the  same 
colony  cannot,  in  their  private  opinions,  conform  to  the  public  exercise 
of  religion,  according  to  the  liturgy,  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Church  of  England,  or  take  or  subscribe  the  oaths  and  articles  made 
and  established  in  that  behalf;  and  for  that  the  same,  by  reason  of  the 
remote  distances  of  those  places,  will  (as  we  hope)  be  no  breach  of  the 
unity  and  uniformity  established  in  this  nation:  Have  therefore 
thought  fit,  and  do  hereby  publish,  grant,  ordain  and  declare,  That 
our  royal  will  and  pleasure  is,  that  no  person  within  the  said  Colony, 
at  any  time  hereafter,  shall  be  any  wise  molested,  punished,  disquieted, 
or  called  in  question,  for  any  differences  in  opinion  in  matters  of 
religion,  and  do  not  actually  disturb  the  civil  peace  of  our  said  Colony; 
but  that  all  and  every  person  and  persons  may,  from  time  to  time, 
and  at  all  times  hereafter,  freely  and  fully  have  and  enjoy  his  and 
their  own  judgments  and  consciences,  in  matters  of  religious  concern- 
ments, throughout  the  tract  of  land  hereafter  mentioned,  they  behav- 
ing themselves  peaceably  and  quietly,  and  not  using  this  liberty  to 
licentiousness  and  profaneness,  nor  to  the  civil  injury  or  outward  dis- 
turbance of  others,  any  law,  statute,  or  clause  therein  contained,  or  to 
be  contained,  usage  or  custom  of  this  realm,  to  the  contrary  hereof,  in 
any  wise,  notwithstanding.  And  that  they  may  be  in  the  better 
capacity  to  defend  themselves,  in  their  just  rights  and  liberties, 
against  all  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  others,  in  all 
respects,  we  have  further  thought  rit,  and  at  the  humble  petition  of 
the  persons  aforesaid  are  graciously  pleased  to  declare,  That  they  shall 
have  and  enjoy  the  benefit  of  our  late  act  of  indemnity  and  free  par- 
don, as  the  rest  of  our  subjects  in  other  our  dominions  and  territories 
have;  and  to  create  and  make  them  a  body  politic  or  corporate,  with 
the  powers  and  privileges  hereinafter  mentioned.  And  accordingly 
our  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  of  our  especial  grace,  certain  knowledge, 
and  mere  motion.  \ve  have  ordained,  constituted  and  declared,  and  by 
these  presents,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successc  is.  do  ordain,  constitute 
and  declare,  That  they,  the  said  William  Brenton,  "William  ('(ding- 
ton,  Nicholas  East  on,  Benedict  Arnold,  "William  Boulston,  John 
Porter,  Samuel  Gorton,  John  Smith,  John  Weeks,  Roger  "Williams, 
Thomas  Olney,  Gregory  Dexter,  John  Coggeshall,  J(seph  Clarke, 
Randall  Holden,  John  Greene,  John  Roome,  "William  Dyre,  Samuel 
"Wildbore,  Richard  Tew,  "William  Field,  Thomas  Harris,  James  Bar- 
ker,    Rainsborrow, "Williams,  and  John  Nickson,  and 


APPENDIX.  293 

all  such  others  as  now  are,  or  hereafter  shall  be,  admitted  and  made 
free  of  the  company  and  society  of  our  Colony  of  Providence  Planta- 
tions, in  the  Narragansett  Bay,  in  New  England,  shall  be  from  time 
to  time,  and  forever  hereafter,  a  body  corporate  and  politic,  in  fact 
and  name,  by  the  name  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of  the  English 
Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  in  New  England, 
in  America;  and  that,  by  the  same  name,  they  and  their  successors 
shall  and  may  have  perpetual  succession,  and  shall  and  may  be  per- 
sons able  and  capable,  in  the  law,  to  sue  and  be  sued,  to  plead  and  be 
impleaded,  to  answer,  and  be  answered  unto,  to  defend  and  to  be  de- 
fended, in  all  and  singular  suits,  causes,  quarrels,  matters,  actions, 
and  things,  of  what  kind  or  nature  soever;  and  also  to  have,  take, 
possess,  acquire,  and  purchase  lands,  tenements  or  hereditaments,  or 
any  goods  or  chattels,  and  the  same  to  lease,  grant,  demise,  aliene, 
bargain,  sell  and  dispose  of,  at  their  own  will  and  pleasure, 
as  other  our  liege  people  of  this  our  realm  of  England,  or 
any  corporation  or  body  politic,  within  the  same,  may  lawfully 
do.  And  further,  that  they  the  said  Governor  and  Com- 
pany, and  their  successors,  shall  and  may,  forever  hereafter, 
have  a  common  seal,  to  serve  and  use  for  all  matters,  causes, 
things  and  affairs,  whatsoever,  of  them,  and  their  successors;  and  the 
same  seal  to  alter,  change,  break,  and  make  new,  from  time  to  time, 
at  their  will  and  pleasure,  as  they  shall  think  fit.  And  further,  we 
will  and  ordain,  and  by  these  presents,  for  us,  our  heirs,  and  succes- 
sors, do  declare  and  appoint  that,  for  the  better  ordering  and  managing 
of  the  affairs  and  business  of  the  said  Company,  and  their  successors, 
there  shall  be  one  Governor,  one  Deputy-Governor  and  ten  Assistants, 
to  be  from  time  to  time,  constituted,  elected  and  chosen,  out  of  the 
freemen  of  the  said  Company,  for  the  time  being,  in  such  manner  and 
form  as  is  hereafter  in  these  presents  expressed,  which  said  officers 
shall  apply  themselves  to  take  care  for  the  best  disposing  and  ordering 
of  the  general  business  and  affairs  of  and  concerning  the  lands,  and 
hereditaments  hereinafter  mentioned  to  be  granted,  and  the  planta- 
tion thereof,  and  the  government  of  the  people  there.  And,  for  the 
better  execution  of  our  royal  pleasure  herein,  we  do,  for  us,  our  heirs 
and  successors,  assign,  name,  constitute,  and  appoint  the  aforesaid 
Benedict  Arnold  to  be  the  first  and  present  Governor  of  the  said  Com- 
pany, and  the  said  William  Brenton  to  be  the  Deputy-Governor,  and 
the  said  William  Boulston,  John  Porter,  Roger  Williams,  Thomas 
Olney,  John  Smith,  John  Greene,  John  Coggeshall,  James  Barker, 
William  Field,  and  Joseph  Clarke,  to  be  the  ten  present  Assistants 
of  the  said  Company,  to  continue  in  the  said  several  offices,  respec- 
tively, until  the  first  Wednesday  which  shall  be  in  the  month  of  May 
now  next  coming.  And  farther,  we  will,  and  by  these  presents,  for 
us,  our  heirs  and  sucessors,  do  ordain  and  grant  that  the  Governor  of 
the  said  Company,  for  the  time  being,  or,  in  his  absence,  by  occasion 
of  sickness,  or  otherwise,  by  his  leave  and  permission,  the  Deputy- 
Governor,  for  the  time  being,  shall  and  may,  from  time  to  time,  upon 
all  occasions,  give  order  for  the  assembling  of  the  said  Company,  and 
calling  them  together,  to  consult  and  advise  of  the  business  and  affairs 
of  the  said  Company.  And  that  forever  hereafter,  twice  in  every 
year,  that  is  to  say,  on  every  first  Wednesday  in  the  month  of  May, 
and  on  every  last  Wednesday  in  October,  or  oftener,  incase  it  shall  be 
requisite,  the  Assistants  and  such  of  the  freemen  of  the  said  Com- 
pany, not  exceeding  six  persons  for  Newport,  four  persons  for  each  of 
the  respective  towns  of  Providence,  Portsmouth,  and  Warwick,  and 
two  persons  for  each  other  place,  town  or  city,  who  shall  be,  from  time 
to  time,  thereunto  elected  or  deputed  by  the  major  part  of  the  freemen 
of  the  respective  towns  or  places  for  which  they  shall  be  so  elected  or 
deputed,  shall  have  a  general  meeting  or  assembly,  then  and  there 


294  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

to  consult,  advise  and  determine,  in  and  atxmt  the  affairs  and  business 
of  the  said  Company  and  Plantations.  And,  further,  we  do,  of  our 
especial  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and  mere  motion,  give  and  grant 
unto  the  said  Governor  and  Company  of  the  English  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  i"n  New  England,  in  America,  and 
their  successors,  that  the  Governor,  or,  in  his  absence,  or,  by  his  per- 
mission, the  Deputy-Governor,  of  the  said  Company,  for  the  time 
being,  the  Assistants,  and  such  of  the  freemen  of  the  said  Company 
as  shall  be  so  as  aforesaid  elected  or  deputed,  or  so  many  of  them  as 
shall  be  present  at  such  meeting  or  assembly,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be 
called  the  General  Assembly;  and  that  they,  or  the  greatest  part  of 
them  present,  whereof  the  Governor  or  Deputy-Governor,  and  six  of 
the  Assistants,  at  least  to  be  seven,  shall  have,  and  have  hereby  given 
and  granted  unto  them,  full  power  and  authority,  from  time  to  time, 
and  at  all  times  hereafter,  to  appoint,  alter  and  change  such  days, 
times  and  places  of  meeting  and  General  Assembly,  as  they  shall 
think  fit;  and  to  choose,  nominate  and  appoint,  such  and  so  many 
other  persons  as  they  shall  think  fit,  and  shall  be  willing  to  accept  the 
same,  to  be  free  of  the  said  Company  and  body  politic,  and  them  into 
the  same  to  admit ;  and  to  elect  and  constitute  such  offices  and  officers, 
and  to  grant  such  needful  commissions,  as  they  shall  think  fit  and 
requisite,  for  the  ordering,  managing,  and  dispatching  of  the  affairs 
of  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and  their  successors;  and  from 
time  to  time,  to  make,  ordain,  constitute  or  repeal,  such  laws,  statutes, 
orders  and  ordinances,  forms  and  ceremonies  of  government  and 
magistracy,  as  to  them  shall  seem  meet,  for  the  good  and  welfare  of 
the  said  Company,  and  for  the  government  and  ordering  of  the  lands 
and  hereditaments,  hereinafter  mentioned  to  be  granted,  and  of  the 
people  that  do,  or  at  any  tune  hereafter  shall,  inhabit  or  be  within  the 
same;  so  as  such  laws,  ordinances  and  constitutions,  so  made,  be  not 
contrary  and  repugnant  unto,  but  as  near  as  may  be,  agreeable  to  the 
laws  of  this  our  realm  of  England,  considering  the  nature  and  consti- 
tution of  the  place  and  people  there:  and  also  to  appoint,  order  and 
direct,  erect  and  settle,  such  places  and  courts  of  jurisdiction,  for  the 
hearing  and  determining  of  all  actions,  cases,  matters  and  things, 
happening  within  the  said  Colony  and  Plantation,  and  which  shall  be 
in  dispute,  and  depending  there,  as  they  shall  think  fit;  and  also  to 
distinguish  and  set  forth  the  several  names  and  titles,  duties,  powers 
and  limits,  of  each  court,  office  and  officer,  superior  and  inferior; 
and  also  to  contrive  and  appoint  such  forms  of  oaths  and  attestations, 
not  repugnant,  but  as  near  as  may  be  agreeable,  as  aforesaid,  to  the 
laws  and  statutes  of  this  our  realm,  as  are  convenient  and  requisite, 
with  respect  to  the  due  administration  of  justice,  and  due  execution 
and  discharge  of  all  offices  and  places  of  trust  by  the  persons  that 
shall  be  therein  concerned;  and  also  to  regulate  and  order  the  way 
and  manner  of  all  elections  to  offices  and  places  of  trust,  and  to  pre- 
scribe, limit  and  distinguish  the  numbers  and  bounds  of  all  places, 
towns  or  cities,  within  the  limits  and  bounds  hereinafter  mentioned, 
and  not  herein  particularly  named,  who  have,  or  shall  have,  the 
power  of  electing  and  sending  of  freemen  to  the  said  General  Assem- 
bly; and  also  to  order,  direct  and  authorize  the  imposing  of  lawful 
and  reasonable  fines,  mulcts,  imprisonments,  and  executing  other 
punishments,  pecuniary  and  corporal,  upon  offenders  and  delinquents, 
according  to  the  course' of  other  corpoiations  within  this  our  kingdom 
of  England:  and  again  to  alter,  revoke,  annul  or  pardon,  under  thei- 
comnion  seal,  or  otherwise,  such  fines,  mulcts,  imprisonments,  senr 
tences,  judgments  and  condemnations,  as  shall  be  thought  fit ;  and  to 
direct,  rule,  order  and  dispose  of,  all  other  matters  and  things,  and 
particularly  that  which  relates  to  the  making  of  purchases  of  the 
native  Indians,  as  to  them  shall  seem  meet ;  whereby  our  said  people 


APPENDIX.  295 

and  inhabitants  in  the  said  Plantations,  may  be  so  religiously,  peace- 
ably and  civilly  governed,  as  that  by  their  good  life  and  orderly  con- 
versation, they  may  win  and  invite  the  native  Indians  of  the  country 
to  the  knowledge  and  obedience  of  the  only  true  God  and  Saviour  of 
mankind;  willing,  commanding  and  requiring,  and  by  these  presents, 
for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  ordaining  and  appointing,  that  all 
such  laws,  statutes,  orders  and  ordinances,  instructions,  impositions 
and  directions,  as  shall  be  so  made  by  the  Governor,  Deputy-Governor, 
Assistants  and  freemen,  or  such  number  of  them  as  aforesaid,  and 
published  in  writing,  under  their  common  seal,  shall  be  carefully  and 
duly  observed,  kept,  performed  and  put  in  execution,  according  to  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  same.  And  these  our  letters  patent, 
or  the  duplicate  or  exemplification  thereof,  shall  be  to  all  and  every 
such  officer,  superior  or  inferior,  from  time  to  time,  for  the  putting  of 
the  same  orders,  laws,  statutes,  ordinances,  instructions  and  directions 
in  due  execution,  against  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  a  sufficient  war- 
rant and  discharge.  And  further,  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  we  do 
hereby,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  establish  and  ordain,  that 
yearly,  once  in  the  year,  forever  hereafter,  namely,  the  aforesaid 
Wednesday  in  May,  and  at  the  town  of  Newport,  or  elsewhere,  .,i£ 
urgent  occasion  do  require,  the  Governor,  Deputy-Governor  and 
Assistants  of  the  said  Company,  and  other  officers  of  the  said  Com- 
pany, or  such  of  them  as  the  General  Assembly  shall  think  fit,  shall 
be,  in  the  said  General  Court  or  Assembly  to  be  held  from  that  day  or 
time,  newly  chosen  for  the  year  ensusing,  by  such  greater  part  of  the 
said  Company,  for  the  time  being,  as  shall  be  then  and  there  present; 
and  if  it  shall  happen  that  the  present  Governor.  Deputy-Governor  and 
Assistants,  by  these  presents  appointed,  or  any  such  as  shall  hereafter 
be  newly  chosen  into  their  rooms,  or  any  of  them,  or  any  other  the 
officers  of  the  said  Company,  shall  die  or  be  removed  from  his 
or  their  several  offices  or  places,  before  the  said  general  day  of 
election,  (whom  we  do  hereby  declare,  for  any  misdemeanor  or 
default,  to  be  removable  by  the  Governor,  Assistants  and  Company, 
or  such  greater  part  of  them,  in  any  of  the  said  public  courts,  to  be 
assembled  as  aforesaid,)  that  then,  and  in  every  such  case,  it  shall  and 
may  be  lawful  to  and  for  the  said  Governor,  Deputy-Governor, 
Assistants  and  Company  aforesaid,  or  such  greater  part  of  them,  so  to 
be  assembled  as  is  aforesaid,  in  any  their  assemblies,  to  proceed  to  a 
new  election  of  one  or  more  of  their  Company,  in  the  room  or  place, 
rooms  or  places,  of  such  officer  or  officers,  so  dying  or  removed, 
according  to  their  discretions  ;  and  immediately  upon  and  after  such 
election  or  elections  made  of  such  Governor,  Depxity-Governor, 
Assistant  or  Assistants,  or  any  other  officer  of  the  said  Company,  in 
manner  and  form  aforesaid,  the  authority,  office  and  power,  before 
given  to  the  former  Governor,  Deputy-Governor,  and  other  officer  and 
officers,  so  removed,  in  whose  stead  and  place  new  shall  be  chosen, 
shall,  as  to  him  and  them,  and  every  of  them,  respectively, -cease  and 
determine  :  Provided  alwuifx,  and  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  that  as  well 
such  as  are  by  these  presents  appointed  to  be  the  present  Governor, 
Deputy-Governor  and  Assistants  of  the  said  Company,  as  those  that 
shall  succeed  them,  and  all  other  officers  to  be  appointed  and  chosen 
as  aforesaid,  shall,  before  the  undertaking  the  execution  of  the  said 
offices  and  places  respectively,  give  their  solemn  engagement,  by 
oath,  or  otherwise,  for  the  due  and  faithful  performance  of  their 
duties  in  their  several  offices  and  places,  before  such  person  or  persons 
as  are  by  these  presents  hereafter  appointed  to  take  and  receive  the 
same,  that  is  to  say  :  the  said  Benedict  Arnold,  who  is  hereinbefore 
nominated  and  appointed  the  present  Governor  of  the  said  Company, 
shall  give  the  aforesaid  engagement  before  William  Brenton,  or  any 
two  of  the  .said  Assistants  of  the  said  Company  ;  unto  whom  we  do  by 


296  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

these  presents  give  full  power  and  authority  to  require  and  receive  the 
same  ;  and  the  said  William  Brenton,  who  is  hereby  hefore  nominated 
and  appointed  the  present  Deputy-Governor  of  the  said  Company, 
shall  give  the  aforesaid  engagement  hefore  the  said  Benedict  Arnold, 
or  any  two  of  the  Assistants  of  the  said  Company;  unto  whom  we  do 
by  these  presents  give  full  power  and  authority  to  require  and  receive 
the  same ;  and  the  said  William  Boulston,  John  Porter,  Roger 
Williams,  Thomas  Olney,  John  Smith,  John  Greene,  John  Cogges- 
hall,  James  Barker,  William  Field,  and  Joseph  Clarke  who  are 
herein  hefore  nominated  and  appointed  the  present  Assistants  of  the 
said  Company,  shall  give  the  said  engagement  to  their  offices  and 
places  respectively  belonging,  before  the  said  Benedict  Arnold  and 
William  Brenton,  or  one  of  them  ;  to  whom  respectively  we  do 
hereby  give  full  power  and  authority  to  require,  administer  or  receive 
the  same :  and  further,  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  that  all  and  every 
other  future  Governor  or  Deputy-Governor,  to  be  elected  and  chosen 
by  virtue  of  these  presents,  shall  give  the  said  engagement  before  two 
or  more  of  the  said  Assistants  of  the  said  Company  for  the  time  being; 
unto  whom  we  do  by  these  presents  give  full  power  and  authority  to 
require,  administer  or  receive  the  same;  and  the  said  Assistants,  and 
every  of  them,  and  all  and  every  other  officer  or  officers  to  be  hereafter 
elected  and  chosen  by  virtue  of  these  presents,  from  time  to  time, 
shall  give  the  like  engagements,  to  their  offices  and  places  respectively 
belonging,  before  the  Governor  or  Deputy-Governor  for  the  time 
being:  unto  which  said  Governor,  or  Deputy-Governor,  we  do  by 
these  presents  give  full  power  and  authority  to  require,  administer  or 
receive  the  same  accordingly.  And  we  do  likewise,  for  us,  our  heirs 
and  successors,  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Governor  and  Company, 
and  their  successors,  by  these  presents,  that,  for  the  more  peaceable 
and  orderly  government  of  the  said  Plantations,  it  shall  and  maybe 
lawful  for  the  Governor,  Deputy-Governor,  Assistants  and  all  other 
officers  and  ministers  of  the  said  Company,  in  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  exercise  of  government,  in  the  said  Plantations,  to  use, 
exercise,  and  put  in  execution,  such  methods,  rules,  orders  and  direc- 
tions, not  being  contrary  or  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  this 
our  realm,  as  have  been  heretofore  given,  used  and  accustomed,  in 
such  cases  respectively,  to  be  put  in  practice,  until  at  the  next  or  some 
other  General  Assembly,  special  provision  shall  be  made  and  ordained 
in  the  cases  aforesaid.  And  we  do  further,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  suc- 
cessors, give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and 
their  successors,  by  these  presents,  that  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to 
and  for  the  said  Governor,  or,  in  his  absence,  the  Deputy-Governor, 
and  major  part  of  the  said  Assistants,  for  the  time  being,  at  any  time 
when  the  said  General  Assembly  is  not  sitting,  to  nominate,  appoint 
and  constitute,  such  and  so  many  commanders,  governors  and  military 
officers,  as  to  them  shall  seem  requisite,  for  the  leading,  conducting 
and  training  up  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  Plantations  in  martial 
affairs,  and  for  the  defence  and  safeguard  of  the  said  Plantations:  and 
that  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  all  and  every  such  com- 
mander, governor  and  military  officer,  that  shall  be  so  as  aforesaid,  or 
by  the  Governor,  or  in  his  absence,  the  Deputy-Governor,  and  six  of 
the  said  Assistants,  and  major  part  of  the  freemen  of  the  said  Com- 
pany present  at  any  General  Assemblies,  nominated,  appointed  and 
constituted,  according  to  the  tenor  of  his  and  their  respective  commis- 
sions and  directions  to  assemble,  exercise  in  anus,  martial  array,  and 
put  in  warlike  posture,  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  Colony,  for  their 
special  defence  and  safety :  and  to  lead  and  conduct  the  said  inhabitants, 
and  to  encounter,  expnlse,  expel  and  resist,  by  force  of  arms,  as  well 
by  sea  as  by  land,  and  also  to  kill,  slay  and  destroy,  by  all  fitting 
ways,  enterprises  and  means,  whatsoever,  all  and  every  such  person  or 


APPENDIX.  297 

persons  as  shall,  at  any  time  hereafter,  attempt  or  enterprise  the 
destruction,  invasion,  detriment,  or  annoyance  of  the  said  inhabitants 
or  Plantations;  and  to  use  and  exercise  the  law  martial  in  such  cases 
only  as  occasion  shall  necessarily  require;  and  to  take  or  surprise,  by 
all  ways  and  means  whatsoever,  all  and  every  such  person  and  per- 
sons, with  their  ship  or  ships,  armor,  ammunition  or  other  goods  of 
such  persons,  as  shall,  in  hostile  manner,  invade  or  attempt  the 
defeating  of  the  said  Plantation,  or  the  hurt  of  the  said  Company  and 
inhabitants;  and  upon  just  causes,  to  invade  and  destroy  the  native 
Indians,  or  other  enemies  of  the  said  Colony.  Nevertheless,  our  will 
and  pleasure  is,  and  we  do  hereby  declare  to  the  rest  of  our  Colonies 
in  New  England,  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  this  our  said  Colony  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  in  America,  in  New  Eng- 
land, to  invade  the  natives  inhabiting  within  the  bounds  and  limits  of 
their  said  Colonies,  without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  said 
other  Colonies.  And  it  is  hereby  declared,  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful 
to  or  for  the  rest  of  the  Colonies'to  invade  or  molest  the  native  Indians 
or  any  other  inhabitants  inhabiting  within  the  bounds  and  limits  here- 
after mentioned,  (they  having  subjected  themselves  unto  us,  and  being 
by  us  taken  into  our  special  protection,)  without  the  knowledge  and 
consent  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of  our  Colony  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations.  Also  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  we  do 
hereby  declare  unto  all  Christian  Kings,  Princes  and  States,  that  if 
any  person,  which  shall  hereafter  be  of  the  said  Company  or  Planta- 
tions or  any  other,  by  appointment  of  the  said  Governor  and  Com- 
pany for  the  time  being  shall  at  any  time  or  times  hereafter,  rob  or 
spoil,  by  sea  or  land,  or  do  any  hurt  or  unlawful  hostility  to  any  of 
the  subjects  of  us,  our  heirs  or  successors,  or  any  of  the  subjects  of  any 
Prince  or  State,  being  then  in  league  with  us,  our  heirs  or  successors, 
upon  complaint  of  such  injury  done  to  any  such  Prince  or  State,  or 
their  subjects,  we,  our  heirs  and  successors,  will  make  open  proclama- 
tion within  any  parts  of  our  realm  of  England,  tit  for  that  purpose, 
that  the  person  or  persons  committing  any  such  robbery  or  spoil,  shall, 
within  the  time  limited  by  such  proclamation,  make  full  restitution, 
or  satisfaction  of  all  such  injuries,  done  or  committed,  so  as  the  said 
Prince,  or  others  so  complaining,  may  be  fully  satisfied  and 
contented;  and  if  the  said  person  or  persons  who  shall  commit 
any  such  robbery  or  spoil  shall  not  make  satisfaction,  accordingly, 
within  such  time,  so  to  be  limited,  that  then  we,  our  heirs  and 
successors,  will  put  such  person  or  persons  out  of  our  allegiance 
and  protection  ;  and  that  then  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  and 
free  for  all  Princes  or  others  to  prosecute  with  hostility,  such 
offenders,  and  every  of  them,  their  and  every  of  their  pro- 
curers, aiders,  abettors,  and  counsellors,  in  that  behalf :  Pro- 
vided also,  and  our  express  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  we  do,  by 
these  presents,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  ordain  and  appoint 
that  these  presents,  shall  not,  in  any  manner,  hinder  any  of  our  loving 
subjects,  whatsoever,  from  using  and  exercising  the  trade  of  fishing 
upon  the  coast  of  New  England,  in  America;  but  that  they,  and  every 
or  any  of  them,  shall  have  full  and  free  power  and  liberty  to  continue 
and  use  the  trade  of  tishing  upon  the  said  coast,  in  any  of  the  seas 
thereunto  adjoining,  or  any  arms  of  the  seas,  or  salt  water,  rivers  and 
creeks,  where  they  have  been  accustomed  to  fish:  and  to  build  and  to 
set  upon  the  waste  land  belonging  to  the  said  Colony  and  Plantations. 
such  wharves,  stages  and  work-houses  as  shall  be  necessary  for  the  salt- 
ing, drying  and  keeping  of  their  fish,  to  be  taken  or  gotten  upon  that 
coast.  And  further,  for  the  encouragement  of  the  inhabitants  of  our 
said  Colony  of  Providence  Plantations  to  set  upon  the  business  of 
taking  whales,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  them,  or  any  of  them  having 
struck  whale,  dubertus,  or  other  great  fish,  it  or  them,  to  pursue  unto 


300  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAKD. 

and  available  in  all  things  in  the  law,  to  all  intents,  contents,  construc- 
tions and  purposes  whatsoever,  according  to  our  true  intent  and  meaning 
hereinbefore  declared :  and  shall  be  construed,  reputed  and  adjudged 
in  all  cases  most  favorably  on  the  behalf,  and  for  the  best  benefit  and 
behoof  of  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and  their  successors :  al- 
though express  mention  of  the  true  yearly  value  or  certainty  of  the 
premises,  or  any  of  them,  or  of  any  other  gifts  or  grants,  by  us.  or  by 
any  of  our  progenitors  or  predecessors,  heretofore  made  to  the  said 
Governor  of  the  Company  of  the  English. Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and 
Providence  Plantations,  in  the  Narragansett  Bay.  Xew  England,  in 
America,  in  these  presents  is  not  made,  or  any  statue,  act.  ordinance, 
provision,  proclamation  or  restriction,  heretofore  had.  made,  enacted, 
ordained  or  provided,  or  any  other  matter,  cause  or  thing  whatsoever,  to 
the  contrary  thereof  in  any  wise  notwithstanding.  In  witness,  where- 
of, we  have  caused  these  our  letters  to  be  made  patent.  Witness  our- 
self,  at  "Westminister,  the  eighth  day  of  July,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of 
our  reign. 

By  the  King  : 

HOWARD. 


CONSTITUTION 

OF   THE 

>tate  of  JUjobe  J0lanbt 


ARTICLE  I.— Declaration  of  Rights. 

SECTION  1.  Right  -of  the  people  to  make  and  alter  their  Consti- 
tution. 

SEC.  2  Object  of  government — How  laws  should  he  made  and  bur- 
dens distributed. 

SEC.  3.    Religious  freedom  secured. 

SEC.  4.     Slavery  prohibited. 

SEC.  5.  Laws  should  provide  remedies — Justice  shall  be  free,  com- 
plete, prompt. 

SEC.  6.    Rights  of  search  and  seizure  regulated. 

SEC.  7.     Provisions  concerning  criminal  proceedings. 

SEC.  8.     Bail,  fines  and  punishments. 

SEC.  9.     Bail  and  habeas  corpus. 

SEC.  10.  Rights  of  the  accused  in  criminal  proceedings. 

SEC.  11.  Debtors  entitled  to  relief. 

SEC.  12.  No  cr  post  facto  law,  &c.,  to  be  passed. 

SEC.  13.  No  man  to  criminate  himself. 

SEC.  14.  Presumption  of  innocence — Accused  to  be  secured  without 
severity. 

SEC.  15.  Trial  by  jury. 

SEC.  10.  Private  property  secured. 

SEC.  17.  Rights  of  fishery. 

SEC.  18.  Military  subordinate — Martial  law. 

SEC.  19.  Of  quartering  soldiers. 

SEC.  20.  Liberty  of  the  press  secured — Truth  as  a  defence  to  libel. 

SEC.  21.  Right  of  the  people  to  assemble,  and  to  petition. 

SEC.  22.  Right  to  bear  arms. 

SEC.  23.  Rule  of  construction. 

ARTICLE  II.-  Electors. 

SEC.  1.     Of  electors  owning  real  estate. 

SEC.  2.  Of  electors  qualified  to  vote  on  adoption  of  Constitution- 
Registered  voters — Qualified  by  dollar  tax — Military  duty — Who  to 
vote  for  City  Council  in  Providence,  to  impose  a  tax,  &c. 


302  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

SEC.  3.  Of  assessment  and  payment  of  registry  tax. 

SEC.  4.  Who  shall  not  gain  residence  or  be  permitted  to  vote. 

SEC.  5.  Residents  on  lands  ceded,  &c.,  not  electors. 

SEC.  6.  Power  of  General  Assembly  over  elections. 

ARTICLE  III— Powers  Distributed. 
Three  Departments. 

ARTICLE  IV.— Legislative  Powers. 

SECTION  1.     Constitution  supreme  law. 

SEC.  2.    Two  houses — General  Assembly — Style  of  laws. 

SEC.  3.     Sessions  of  General  Assembly. 

SEC.  4.    Members  not  to  take  fees,  &c. 

SEC.  5.    Members  exempt  from  arrest,  &c. 

SEC.  6.    Powers  of  each  house — Organization. 

SEC.  7.    Powers  to  make  mles,  &c. 

SEC.  8.    Of  the  journal  and  yeas  and  nays. 

SEC.  9.     Of  adjournments. 

SEC.  10.  Of  powers  not  prohibited. 

SEC.  11.  Pay  of  members. 

SEC.  12.  Lotteries  prohibited. 

SEC.  13.  Debts  not  to  be  incurred. 

SEC.  14.  Private  or  local  appropriations. 

SEC.  15.  Of  valuations  of  property  and  assessments. 

SEC.  16.  Officers  may  be  continued  until  successors  are  qualified. 

SEC.  17.  Bills  to  create  corporations  to  be  continued,  except,  &c. 

SEC.  18.  Of  election  of  senators  to  Congress. 

ARTICLE  V.— House  of  Representatives. 

SECTION  1.    House,  how  constituted — Ratio  of  representation. 
SEC.  2.    May  elect  its  officers,  &c. 

ARTICLE  VI.— Senate. 

SECTION  1.    How  constituted. 

SEC.  2.    Governor  to  preside — when  to  vote  in  grand  committee. 
SEC.  3.    May  elect  presiding  officer  in  case  of  vacancy,  &c. 
SEC.  4.    Secretary  and  other  officers. 

ARTICLE  VII.— Executive. 

SECTION  1.    Of  the  governor  and  lieutenant-governor — How  elected. 

SEC.  2.    Duty  of  governor. 

SEC.  3.    He  shall  command  military  and  naval  forces,  except,  &c. 

SEC.  4.    He  may  grant  reprieves,  &c. 

SEC.  5.    He  may  fill  vacancies. 

SEC.  6.    He  may  adjourn  assembly,  in  case,  &c. 

SEC.  7.    He  may  convene  assembly,  when,  &c. 

SEC.  8.     Commissions,  how  signed,  &c. 

SEC.  9.    Lieutenant-governor,  when  to  act  as  governor. 

SEC.  10.  Vacancies,  how  filled. 

SEC.  11.  Compensation  of  governor,  &c. 

SEC.  12.  Duties  of  general  officers. 


APPENDIX.  303 


ARTICLE  VIII.— Elections. 

SECTION.  1.    Governor  and  general  officers,  when  elected. 

SEC.  2.    General  officers  and  members  of  assembly,  how  voted  for. 

SEC.  3.  Same  subject — How  votes  to  be  sealed  up,  transmitted  and 
counted. 

SEC.  4.    List  of  voters  to  be  kept.     [Obsolete.] 

SEC.  5.  Ballots  for  members  of  Assembly,  how  counted — Adjourn- 
ment of  elections,  when. 

SEC.  6. — Of  voting  in  the  City  of  Providence. 

SEC.  7. — If  governor  or  lieutenant-governor  not  elected  by  the  people 
grand  committee  to  elect,  how. 

SEC.  8.  In  case  general  officers  not  elected  by  the  people,  how  va- 
cancies shall  be  filled. 

SEC.  9.    Vacancies  in  Assembly,  how  filled. 

SEC.  10.    Majority  required  to  elect. 

ARTICLE  IX.— Qualifications  for  Office. 

SECTION  1.    Qualified  electors  only  eligible. 
SEC.  2.     Conviction  of.  bribery  a  disqualification. 
SEC.  3.    Oath  of  general  officers. 
SEC.  4.    Officers,  how  engaged. 

SEC.  5.    How  oath  to  be  administered  to  governor,  &c. 
SEC.  6.    Holding  office  under  United  States,  or  other  governments, 
a  disqualification  for  certain  offices, — except,  &c. 

ARTICLE  X.— Judicially. 

SECTION  1.     One  supreme  court — Inferior  courts  how  established. 

SEC.  2.    Jurisdiction  of  courts— Chancery  powers. 

SEC.  3.  Judges  of  supreme  court  to  instruct  jury — To  give  opin- 
ions, &c. 

SEC.  4.    Of  election  and  tenure  of  office  of  judges  of  supreme  court. 

SEC.  5. — Vacancies,  how  filled.  i 

SEC.  6.     Compensation  of  judges. 

SEC.  7.  Justices  of  the  peace  and  wardens,  how  elected — Their 
jurisdiction. 

ARTICLE  XL— Impeachments. 

SECTION  1.    Impeachments,  how  ordered. 

SEC.  2.    Impeachments,  how  tried. 

SEC.  3.    What  officers  liable  to  impeachment— Effect  of  conviction. 

ARTICLE  XII.— Education. 

SECTION  1.    Duty  of  General  Assembly  to  promote  schools,  &c. 

SEC.  2.     The  permanent  school  fund. 

SEC.  3.     Donations  for  support  of  schools. 

SEC.  4.    Powers  of  General  Assembly  under  this  article. 

ARTICLE  XIII.— Amendments. 

SECTION  1.  Amendments,  how  proposed, — how  voted  upon, — how 
adopted. 


304  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

ARTICLE  XIV.— Adoption  of  the  Constitution. 

SECTION  1.  Constitution,  when  to  go  into  operation — Its  effect  on 
existing  laws,  charters,  &c. 

SEC.  2.     Former  debts,  &c.,  adopted. 

SEC.  3.    Jurisdiction  of  supreme  court. 

SEC.  4.  Exemptions  of  New  Shoreham  and  Jamestown  from  mili- 
tary duty,  continued. 


AMENDMENTS    TO   THE    CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE  I. 

Lists  of  voters  for  general  officers  no  longer  required  to  be  kept,  &c. 

ARTICLE  II. 
The  pardoning  power,  how  exercised. 

ARTICLE  III. 

Sessions  of  the  General  Assembly. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Electors  absent  from  the  state  in  the  military  service  of  the  United 
States,  allowed  to  vote. 


WE,  the  people  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plan- 
tations, grateful  to  Almighty  God  for  the  civil  and  religious  liberty 
which  He  hath  so  long  permitted  us  to  enjoy,  and  looking  to  Him  for 
a  blessing  upon  our  endeavors  to  secure  and  to  transmit  the  same,  un- 
impaired, to  succeeding  generations,  do  ordain  and  establish  this 
Constitution  of  Government. 

ARTICLE  I. 

DECLARATION  OF   CERTAIN   CONSTITUTIONAL  RIGHTS   AND    PRINCIPLES. 

In  order  effectually  to  secure  the  religions  and  political  freedom 
established  by  our  venerated  ancestors,  and  to  preserve  the  same  for 
our  posterity,  we  do  declare  that  the  essential  and  unquestionable 
rights  and  'principles  hereinafter  mentioned,  shall  he  established, 
maintained  and  preserved,  and  shall  be  of  paramount  obligation  in 
all  legislative,  judicial  and  executive  proceedings. 

SECTION  1.  In  the  words  of  tlye  Father  of  his  Country,  we  declare, 
that.  "  the  basis  of  our  political  systems  is  the  right  of  the  people  to 
make  and  alter  their  constitutions  of  government:  but  that  the  con- 
stitution which  at  any  time  exists,  till  changed  by  an  explicit  and 
authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sacredly  obligatory  upon  all." 

SEC.  2.  All  free  governments  are  instituted  for  the  protection, 
safety  and  happiness  of  the  people.  All  laws,  therefore,  should  be 
made  for  the  good  of  the  whole:  and  the  burdens  of  the  state  ought 
to  be  fairly  distributed  among  its  citizens. 


APPENDIX.  305 

SEC.  3.  Whereas,  Almighty  God  hath  created  the  mind  free;  and 
all  attempts  to  influence  it  by  temporal  punishments,  or  burthens,  or 
by  civil  incapacitations,  tend  to  beget  habits  of  hypocrisy  and  mean- 
ness ;  and  whereas,  a  principal  object  of  our  venerable  ancestors  in 
their  migration  to  this  country  and  their  settlement  of  this  state,  was, 
as  they  expressed  it,  to  hold  forth  a  lively  experiment,  that  a  flourish- 
ing civil  state  may  stand  and  be  best  maintained  with  full  liberty  -in 
religious  concernments';  we  therefore  declare  that  no  man  shall  be 
compelled  to  frequent  or  to  support  any  religious  worship,  place  or 
ministry  whatever,  except  in  fulfillment  of  his  own  voluntary  con- 
tract; nor  enforced,  restrained,  molested  or  burthened  in  his  body  or 
goods;  nor  disqualified  from  holding  any  office;  nor  otherwise  suffer 
on  account  of  his  religious  belief;  and  that  every  man  shall  be  free  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  and  to 
profess  and  by  argument  to  maintain  his  opinion  in  matters  of  religion; 
and  that  the  same  shall  in  no  wise  diminish,  enlarge,  or  affect  his 
civil  capacity. 

SEC.  4.     Slavery  shall  not  be  permitted  in  this  state. 

SEC.  5.  Every  person  within  this  state  ought  to  find  a  certain  rem- 
edy, by  having  recourse  to  the  laws,  for  all  injuries  or  wrongs  which 
he  may  receive  in  his  person,  property  or  character.  He  ought  to 
obtain  right  and  justice  freely,  and  without  purchase,  completely,  and 
without  denial;  promptly  and  without  delay;  conformably  to  the 
laws. 

SEC.  6.  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  papers 
and  possessions,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not 
be  violated;  and  no  warrants  shall  issue,  but  on  complaint  in  writing, 
upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  describing 
as  nearly  as  may  be  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things 
to  be  seized. 

SEC.  7.  No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  other 
infamous  crime,  unless  on  presentment  or  indictment  by  a  grand  jury, 
except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  or  of  such  offences  as  are  cognizable 
by  a  justice  of  the  peace;  or  in  oases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval 
forces,  or  in  the  militia  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  pub- 
lic danger.  No  pe/son  shall,  after  an  acquittal,  be  tried  for  the  same 
offence. 

SEC.  8.  Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines 
imposed,  nor  cruel  punishments  inflicted;  and  all  punishments  ought 
to  be  proportioned  to  the  offence. 

SEC.  9.  All  persons  imprisoned  ought  to  be  bailed  by  sufficient 
surety,  unless  for  offences  punishable  by  death  or  by  imprisonment  for 
life,  when  the  proof  of  guilt  is  evident,  or  the  presumption  great.  The 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  cor/mx  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless 
when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public  service  shall  require 
it,  nor  ever  without  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly. 

SEC.  10.  In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the 
right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury:  to  be  informed 
of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation,  to  be  confronted  with  the 
witnesses  against  him,  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  tyiejn 
in  his  favor,  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  in  his  defence,  and  shall 
be  at  liberty  to  speak  for  himself;  nor  shall  he  be  deprived  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property,  unless  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of 
the  land. 

SEC.  11.  The  person  of  a  debtor,  when  there  is  not  strong  presump- 
tion of  fraud,  ought  not  to  be  continued  in  prison,  after  he  shall  have 
delivered  up  his  property  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors,  in  such  man- 
ner as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

SEC.  12.  No  e.y  post  facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of 
contracts,  shall  be  passed. 

20 


306  HISTORY   OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

SBC.  13.  No  man  in  a  court  of  common  law  shall  be  compelled  to 
give  evidence  criminating  himself. 

SEC.  14.  Every  man  being  presumed  innocent,  until  he  is  pro- 
nounced guilty  by  the  law,  no  act  of  severity  which  is  not  necessarv  to 
aecure  an  accused  person  shall  be  permitted". 

SBC.  15.    The  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  remain  inviolate. 

SBC.  16.  Private  property  shall  not  be  taken  for  public  uses,  with- 
out just  compensation. 

SBC.  17.  The  people  shall  continue  to  enjoy  and  freely  exercise,  all 
the  rights  of  fishery,  and  the  privileges  of  the  shore,  to  which  they 
have  been  heretofore  entitled,  under  the  charter  and  usages  of  this 
state.  But  no  new  right  is  intended  to  be  granted,  nor  any  existing 
right  impaired  by  this  declaration. 

SBC.  18.  The  military  shall  be  held  in  strict  subordination  to  the 
civil  authority,  and  the  law  martial  shall  be  used  and  exercised  in  such 
cases  only  as  occasion  shall  necessarily  require. 

SEC.  li».  No  soldier  shall  be  quartered  in  any  bouse,  in  time  of 
peace,  without  the  consent  of  the  owner:  nor  in  "time  of  war,  but  in 
manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

SBC.  20.  The  liberty  of  the  press  being  essential  to  the  security  of 
freedom  in  a  state,  any  person  may  publish  his  sentiments  on  any 
subject,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that  liberty :  and  in  ail 
trials  for  libel,  both  civil  and  criminal,  the  truth,  unless  published 
from  malicious  motives,  shall  be  sufficient  defence  to  the  person 
charged. 

SEC.  21.  The  citizens  have  a  right,  in  apeaceable  manner,  to  assem- 
ble for  their  common  good,  and  to  apply  to  those  invested  with  the 
powers  of  government,  for  redress  of  grievances,  or  for  other  purposes, 
by  petition,  address,  or  remonstrance. 

"SEC.  22.    The  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be 
infringed. 

SBC.  23.  The  enumeration  of  the  aforegoing  rights  shall  not  be 
construed  to  impair  or  deny  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE  II. 

» 

OF  THE  QUALIFICATIONS  OF   ELECTORS. 

SECTION  1.  Every  male  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  who  has  had  his  residence  and  home  in  this  state 
for  one  year,  and  in  the  town  or  city  in  which  he  may  claim  a  right  to 
vote,  six  months  next  preceding  the  time  of  voting,  and  who  is  really 
and  truly  possessed  in  his  own  right  of  real  estate  in  such  town  or 
city,  of  the  value  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  dollars,  over  and 
above  all  incumbrances.  or  which  shall  rent  for  seven  dollars  per 
annum,  over  and  above  any  rent  reserved,  or  the  interest  of  any  in- 
cnmbrances  thereon,  being  an  estate  in  fee  simple,  fee  tail,  for  the 
life  of  any  person,  or  an  estate  in  reversion  or  remainder,  which 
qualifies  no  other  person  to  vote,  the  conveyance  of  which  e>tate.  if 
by  deed,  shall  have  been  recorded  at  least  ninety  days,  shall  thereafter 
have  a  right  to  vote  in  the  election  of  all  civil  officers,  and  on  all 
questions  in  all  legal  town  or  ward  meetings,  so  long  as  he  continues 
so  qualified.  And  if  any  person  hereinbefore  described  shall  own  any 
such  estate  within  this  state  out  of  t  lie  town  or  city  in  which  he  resides. 
he  shall  have  a  right  to  vote  in  the  election  of  all  general  officers  and 
members  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  town  or  city  in  which  he 
shall  have  had  his  residence  and  home  for  the  term  of  six  months 
next  preceding  the  election,  upon  producing  a  certificate  from  the 
clerk  of  the  town  or  city  in  which  his  estat«-  lit-s.  bearing  date  within 


APPENDIX.  307 

ten  days  of  the  time  of  his  voting,  setting  forth  that  such  person  has 
a  sufficient  estate  therein  to  qualify  him  as  a  voter;  and  that  the  deed, 
if  any,  has  been  recorded  ninety  days. 

SEC.  2.  Every  male  native  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  who  has  had  his  residence  and  home  in  this  state 
two  years,  and  in  the  town  or  city  in  which  he  may  offer  to  vote,  six 
months  next  preceding  the  time  of  voting,  whose  name  is  registered 
pursuant  to  the  act  calling  the  convention  to  frame  this  Constitution, 
or  shall  be  registered  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  such  town  or  city  at 
least  seven  days  before  the  time  he  sharll  offer  to  vote  and  before  the 
last  day  of  December  in  the  present  year;  and  who  has  paid  or  shall 
pay  a  tax  or  taxes,  assessed  upon  his  estate  within  this  state,  and 
within  a  year  of  the  time  of  voting,  to  the  amount  of  one  dollar,  or 
who  shall  voluntarily  pay.  at  least  seven  days  before  the  time  he  shall 
offer  to  vote,  and  before  said  last  day  of  December,  to  the  clerk  or 
treasurer  of  the  town  or  city  where  he  resides,  the  sum  of  one  dollar, 
or  such  sum  as,  with  his  other  taxes,  shall  amount  to  one  dollar,  for 
the  support  of  public  schools  therein,  and  shall  make  proof  of  the 
same,  by  the  certificate  of  the  clerk,  treasurer  or  collector  of  any 
town  or  city  where  such  payment  is  made;  or  who,  being  so  registered 
has  been  enrolled  in  any  military  company  in  this  state,  and  done 
military  service  or  duty  therein,  within  the  present  year,  pursuaiit  to 
law,  and  shall,  (until  other  proof  is  required  by  law,)  prove  by  the  certifi- 
cate of  the  officer  legally  commanding  the  regiment,  or  chartered  or 
legally  authorized  volunteer  company,  in  which  he  may  have  served  or 
done  duty,  that  he  has  been  equipped  and  done  duty  according  to  law,  or 
by  the  certificate  of  the  commissioners  upon  military  claims  that  he 
has  performed  military  service  shall  have  a  right  to  vote  in  the  elec- 
tion of  all  civil  officers,  and  on  all  questions  in  all  legally  organized 
town  or  ward  meetings,  until  the  end  of  the  first  year  after  the  adop- 
tion of  this  Constitution,  or  until  the  end  of  the  year  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  forty-three. 

From  and  after  that  time,  every  such  citizen,  who  has  had  the  resi- 
dence herein  required,  and  whose  name  shall  be  registered  in  the  town 
where  he  resides,  on  or  before  the  last  day  of  December,  in  the  year 
next  preceding  the  time  of  his  voting,  and  who  shall  show  by  legal 
proof,  that  he  has  for  and  within  the  year  next  preceding  the  time  he 
shall  offer  to  vote,  paid  a  tax  or  taxes  assessed  against  him  in  any  town 
or  city  in  this  state,  to  the  amount  of  one  dollar;  or  that  he  ha,s  been 
enrolled  in  a  military  company  in  this  state,  been  equipped  and  done 
duty  therein,  according  to  law,  and  at  least  for  one  day  during  such 
year,  shall  have  a  right  to  vote  in  the  election  of  all  civil  officers,  and 
on  all  questions  in  all  legally  organized  town  or  ward  meetings:  Pro- 
vided, that  no  person  shall  at  any  time  be  allowed  to  vote  in  the  elec- 
tion of  the  City  Council  of  the  City  of  Providence,  or  upon  any  propo- 
sition to  impose  a  tax,  or  for  the  expenditure  of  money  in  any  town  or 
city,  iinless  he  shall,  within  the  year  next  preceding  have  paid  a  tax 
assessed  upon  his  property  therein,  valued  at  least  at  one  hundred  and 
thirty-foiir  dollars. 

SEC.  3.  The  assessors  of  each  town  or  city  shall  annually  assess 
upon  every  person  whose  name  shall  be  registered,  a  tax  of  one  dollar, 
or  such  sum  as  with  his  other  taxes  shall  amount  to  one  dollar,  which 
registry  tax  shall  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  such  town  or  city,  and 
be  applied  to  the  support  of  public  schools  therein:  but  no  compulsory 
process  shall  issue  for  the  collection  of  any  registry  tax:  Provided  that 
the  registry  tax  of  every  person  who  has  performed  military  duty 
according  to  the  provisions  of  the  preceding  section,  shall  be  remitted 
for  the  year  he  shall  perform  such  duty:  and  the  registry  tax  assessed 
upon  any  mariner,  for  any  year  while  he  is  at  sea ,  .shall,  upon  his  appli- 
cation, be  remitted;  and  no  person  shall  be  allowed  to  vote  whose 


310  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

ARTICLE   V. 

OF  THE   HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES. 

SECTION  1.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  never  exceed  seventy- 
two  members,  and  shall  be  constituted  on  the  basis  of  population,  al- 
ways allowing  one  representative  for  a  fraction  exceeding  half  the  ratio ; 
but  each  town  or  city  shall  always  be  entitled  to  at  least  one  member; 
and  no  town  or  city  shall  have  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  whole  num- 
ber of  members  to  which  the  house  is  hereby  limited.  The  present 
ratio  shall  be  one  representative  to  every  fifteen  hundred  and  thirty 
inhabitants,  and  the  General  Assembly  may,  after  any  new  census  taken 
by  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  or  of  this  state,  reapportion 
the  representation  by  altering  the  ratio:  but  no  town  or  city  shall  be 
divided  into  districts  for  the  choice  of  representatives. 

SEC.  2.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  have  authority  to  elect  its 
speaker,  clerks  and  other  officers.  The  senior  member  from  the  town 
of  Newport,  if  any  be  present,  shall  preside  in  the  organization  of  the 
house. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

OF    THE    SENATE. 

SECTION  1.  The  senate  shall  consist  of  the  lieutenant-governor  and 
of  one  senator  from  each  town  or  city  in  the  state. 

SEC.  2.  The  governor,  and.  in  his  absence  the  lieutenant-governor, 
shall  preside  in  the  senate  and  in  grand  committee.  The  presiding 
officer  of  the  senate  and  grand  committee  shall  have  a  right  to  vote  in 
case  of  equal  division,  but  not  otherwise. 

SEC.  3.  If,  by  reason  of  death,  resignation,  absence  or  other  cause, 
there  be  no  governor  or  lieutenant-governor  present,  to  preside  in  the 
senate,  the  senate  shall  elect  one  of  their  own  members  to  preside  dur- 
ing such  absence  or  vacancy :  and  until  such  election  is  made  by  the 
senate  the  secretary  of  state  shall  preside. 

SEC.  4.  The  secretary  of  state  shall,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  be  sec- 
retary of  the  senate,  unless  otherwise  provided  by  law:  and  the  senate 
may  elect  such  other  officers  as  they  may  deem  necessary. 

ARTICLE   VII. 

OF  THE   EXECUTIVE    POWER. 

SECTION  1.  The  chief  executive  power  of  this  state  shall  be  vested 
in  a  governor,  who.  together  with  a  lieutenant-governor,  shall  be  annu- 
ally elected  by  the  people. 

SEC.  '_'.  The  governor  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed. 

SEC.  3.  He  shall  be  captain-general  and  commander-in-chief  of  the 
military  and  naval  forces  of  this  state,  except  when  they  shall  be  called 
into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  4.  He  shall  have  jK>wer  to  grant  reprieves  after  conviction,  in 
all  cases  except  those  of  impeachment,  until  the  the  end  of  the  next 
session  of  the  General  Assembly. 

SEC.  5.  He  may  rill  vacancies  in  office  not  otherwise  provided  for 
by  this  constitution,  or  by  law.  until  the  same  shall  be  filled  by  the 
General  Assembly  or  by  the  people. 

SEC.  «i.  In  case  of  disagreement  between  the  two  houses  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  respecting  the  time  or  place  of  adjournment  certified 
to  him  by  either,  he  may  adjourn  them  to  such  time  and  place  as  he 


APPENDIX.  311 

shall  think  proper:  provided  that  the  time  of  adjournment  shall  not 
be  extended  beyond  the  day  of  the  next  stated  session. 

SEC.  7.  He  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  the  General 
Assembly  at  any  town  or  city  in  this  state,  at  any  time  not  provided 
for  by  law;  and  in  case  of  danger  from  the  prevalence  of  epidemic  or 
contagious  disease,  in  the  place  in  which  the  General  Assembly  are  by 
law  to  meet,  or  to  which  they  may  have  been  adjourned,  or  for  other 
urgent  reasons,  he  may,  by  proclamation,  convene  said  Assembly  at 
any  other  place  within  this  state. 

SEC.  8.  All  commissions  shall  be  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations;  shall  be 
sealed  with  the  state  seal,  signed  by  the  governor,  and  attested  by  the 
secretary. 

SEC.  9.  In  case  of  vacancy  in  the  office  of  governor,  or  of  his  in- 
ability to  serve,  impeachment,  or  absence  from  the  state,  the  lieutenant- 
governor  shall  fill  the  office  of  governor,  and  exercise  the  powers  and 
authority  appertaining  thereto,  until  a  governor  is  qualified  to  act,  or 
until  the  office  is  filled  at  the  next  annual  election. 

SEC.  10.  If  the  offices  of  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  be  both 
vacant  by  reason  of  death,  resignation,  impeachment,  absence,  or 
otherwise,  the  person  entitled  to  preside  over  the  senate  for  the  time 
being  shall  in  like  manner  fill  the  office  of  governor  during  the  absence 
or  vacancy. 

SEC.  11.  The  compensation  of  the  governor  and  lieutenant-governor 
shall  be  established  by  law  and  shall  not  be  diminished  during  the 
term  for  which  they  are  elected. 

SEC.  12.  The  duties  and  powers  of  the  secretary,  attorney-general, 
and  general  treasurer,  shall  be  the  same  under  this  constitution  as  are 
now  established,  or  as  from  time  to  time  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

OF   ELECTIONS. 

SECTION  1.  The  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  senators,  represen- 
tatives, secretary  of  state,  attorney-general,  and  general  treasurer, 
shall  be  elected  at  the  town,  city,  or  ward  meetings,  to  be  holden  on  the 
first  Wednesday  of  April,  annually;  and  shall  severally  hold  their 
offices  for  one  year,  from  the  first  Tuesday  of  May  next  succeeding, 
and  until  others  are  legally  chosen,  and  duly  qualified  to  fill  their 
places.  If  elected  or  qualified  after  the  said  first  Tuesday  of  May, 
they  shall  hold  their  offices  for  the  remainder  of  the  political  year,  and 
until  their  successors  are  qualified  to  act. 

SEC.  '2.  The  voting  for  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  secretary  of 
state,  attorney-general,  general  treasurer,  and  representatives  to  Con- 
gress shall  be  by  ballot;  senators  and  representatives  to  the  General 
Assembly,  and  town  or  city  officers  shall  be  chosen  by  ballot,  on  demand 
of  any  seven  persons  entitled  to  vote  for  the  same;  and  in  all  cases 
where  an  election  is  made  by  ballot  or  paper  vote,  the  manner  of  bal- 
loting shall  be  the  same  as  is  now  required  in  voting  for  general  officers, 
until  otherwise  prescribed  by  law. 

SEC.  3.  The  names  of  the  persons  voted  for  as  governor,  lieutenant- 
governor,  secretary  of  state,  attorney-general,  and  general  treasurer, 
shall  be  placed  upon  one  ticket;  and  all  votes  for  these  officers  shall, 
in  open  town  or  ward  meetings,  be  sealed  up  by  the  moderators  and 
town  clerks  and  by  the  wardens  and  ward  clerks,  who  shall  certify  the 
same,  and  deliver  or  send  them  to  the  secretary  of  state;  whose  duty 
it  shall  be  securely  to  keep  and  deliver  the  same  to  the  grand  com- 
mittee, after  the  organization  of  the  two  houses  at  the  annual  May 


312  HISTORY   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

session;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  two  houses  at  said  session, 
after  their  organization,  upon  the  request  of  either  house,  to  join  in 
grand  committee,  for  the  purpose  of  counting  and  declaring  said  votes, 
and  of  electing  other  officers. 

SEC.  4.  The  town  and  ward  clerks  shall  also  keep  a  correct  list  or 
register  of  all  persons  voting  for  general  officers,  and  shall  transmit  a 
copy  thereof  to  the  General  Assembly,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of 
said  May  session. 

SEC.  5.  The  ballots  for  senators  and  representatives  in  the  several 
towns  shall,  in  each  case,  after  the  polls  are  declared  to  be  closed,  -be 
counted  by  the  moderator,  who  shall  announce  the  result,  and  the 
clerk  shall  give  certificates  to  the  persons  elected.  If.  in  any  case, 
there  be  no  election,  the  polls  may  be  reopened,  and  the  like  proceed- 
ings shall  be  had  until  an  election  shall  take  place:  Provided,  how- 
ever, that  an  adjournment  or  adjournments  of  the  election  may  be 
made  to  a  time  not  exceeding  seven  days  from  the  first  meeting. 

SEC.  6.  In  the  city  of  Providence,  the  polls  for  senator  and  repre- 
sentatives shall  be  kept  open  during  the  whole  time  of  voting  for  the 
day,  and  the  votes  in  the  several  wards  shall  be  sealed  up  at  the  close 
of  "the  meeting  by  the  wardens  and  ward  clerks  in  open  ward  meeting, 
and  afterwards  delivered  to  the  city  clerk.  The  mayor  and  aldermen 
shall  proceed  to  count  said  votes  within  two  days  from  the  day  of 
election;  and  if  no  election  of  senator  and  representatives  or  if  an 
election  of  only  a  portion  of  the  representatives  shall  have  taken 
place,  the  mayor  and  aldermen  shall  order  a  new  election,  to  be  held 
not  more  than  ten  days  from  the  day  of  the  first  election,  and  so  on 
until  the  election  shall  be  completed.  Certificates  of  election  shall  be 
furnished  by  the  city  clerk  to  the  persons  chosen. 

SEC.  7.  If  no  person  shall  have  a  majority  of  votes  for  governor, 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  grand  committee  to  elect  one  by  ballot  from 
the  two  persons  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  for  the  office, 
except  when  such  a  result  is  produced  by  rejecting  the  entire  vote  of 
any  town,  city  or  ward  for  informality  or  illegality,  in  which  case  a 
new  election  "by  the  electors  throughout  the  state  shall  be  ordered; 
and  in  case  no  "person  shall  have  a  majority  of  votes  for  lieutenant- 
governor,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  grand  committee  to  elect  one  by 
ballot  from  the  two  persons  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  for 
the  office. 

SEC.  8.  In  case  an  election  of  the  secretary  of  state,  attorney-gen- 
eral, or  general  treasurer,  should  fail  to  be  made  by  the  electors  "at  the 
annual  election,  the  vacancy  or  vacancies  shall  be  filled  by  the  General 
Assembly  in  grand  committee  from  the  two  candidates  for  such  office 
having  the  greatest  number  of  the  votes  of  the  electors.  Or,  in  case 
of  a  vacancy  in  either  of  said  offices,  from  other  causes,  between  the 
sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  governor  shall  appoint  some 
person  to  fill  the  same,  until  a  successor  elected  by  the  General 
Assembly  is  qualified  to  act;  and  in  such  case,  and  also  in  all  other 
cases  of  vacancies,  not  otherwise  provided  for,  the  General  Assembly 
may  fill  the  same  in  any  manner  they  may  deem  proper. 

SEC.  '.'.  Vacancies  from  any  cause  in  the  senate  and  house  ol 
representatives,  may  be  rilled  by  a  new  election. 

SEC.  10.  In  all  elections  held  by  the  people  under  this  constitution, 
a  majority  of  all  the  electors  voting  shall  be  necessary  to  the  election 
of  the  persons  voted  for. 


APPENDIX.  313 

ARTICLE  IX. 

OF   QUALIFICATIONS    FOR    OFFICE. 

SECTION  I.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  any  civil  office  (except  the 
•office  of  school  committee),  unless  he  be  a  qualified  elector  for  such 
office. 

SEC.  2.  Every  person  shall  be  disqualified  from  holding  any  office 
to  which  he  may  have  been  elected,  if  he  be  convicted  of  having 
offered,  or  procured  any  other  person  to  offer,  any  bribe  to  secure  his 
election,  or  the  election  of  any  other  person. 

SEC.  3.  All  general  officers  shall  take  the  following  engagement  be- 
fore they  act  in  their  respective  offices,  to  wit :  You  .  .  .  being  by 
the  free  vote  of  the  electors  of  this  State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Provi- 
dencs  Plantations,  elected  unto  the  place  of  ....  do  solemnly 
swear,  (or  affirm,)  to  be  true  and  faithful  unto  this  state,  and  to  sup- 
port the  constitution  of  this  state  and  of  the  United  States;  that  you 
will  faithfully  and  impartially  discharge  all  the  duties  of  your  afore- 
said office  to  the  best  of  your  abilities,  according  to  law:  So  help  you 
God.  Or,  this  affirmation  you  make  and  give  upon  the  peril  of  the 
penalty  of  perjury. 

SEC.  4.  The  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  judges  of  all 
the  courts,  and  all  other  officers,  both  civil  and  military,  shall  be  bound 
by  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  this  constitution,  and  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  5.  The  oath  or  affirmation  shall  be  administered  to  the  gov- 
ernor, lieutenant-governor,  senators  and  representatives,  by  the  secre- 
tary of  state,  or,  in  his  absence,  by  the  attorney-general.  The  secretary 
of  state,  attorney-general  and  general  treasurer  shall  be  engaged  by 
the  governor,  or  by  a  justice  of  the  supreme  court. 

SEC.  6.  No  person  holding  any  office  under  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  any  other  state  or  country,  shall  act  as  a  general 
officer,  or  as  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  unless  at  the  time  of 
taking  his  engagement  he  shall  have  resigned  his  office  under  such 
government;  and  if  any  general  officer,  senator,  representative,  or 
judge,  shall  after  his  election  and  engagement,  accept  any  appoint- 
ment under  any  other  government  his  office  under  this  shall  be  im- 
mediately vacated ;  but  this  restriction  shall  not  apply  to  any  person 
.appointed  to  take  depositions  or  acknowledgment  of  deeds,  or  other 
legal  instruments,  by  the  authority  of  any  other  state  or  country. 

ARTICLE  X. 

OF   THE   JUDICIAL   POWER. 

SECTION  1.  The  judicial  power  of  this  state  shall  be  vested  in  one 
supreme  court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the  General  Assembly 
may,  from  time  to  time,  ordain  and  establish. 

S'EC.  2.  The  several  courts  shall  have  such  jurisdiction  as  may,  from 
time  to  time,  be  prescribed  by  law.  Chancery  powers  may  be  conferred 
on  the  supreme  court,  but  on  110  other  court  to  any  greater  extent  than 
is  now  provided  by  law. 

SEC.  3.  The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  shall,  in  all  trials,  instruct 
the  jury  in  the  law.  They  shall  also  give  their  written  opinion  upon 
•any  question  of  law  whenever  requested  by  the  governor,  or  by  either 
house  of  the  General  Assembly. 

SEC.  4.  The  judge*  of  the  supreme  court  shall  be  elected  by  the  two 
.houses  in  grand  committee.  Each  judge  shall  hold  his  office  until  his 


314  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

place  be  declared  vacant  by  a  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
that  effect:  which  resolution  shall  be  voted  for  by  a  majority  of  all  the 
members  elected  to  the  house  in  which  it  may  originate,  and  be  con- 
curred in  by  the  same  majority  of  the  other  house.  Such  resolutions 
shall  not  be  entertained  at  any  other  than  the  annual  session  for  the 
election  of  public  officers ;  and  in  default  of  the  pa>sat:e  thereof  at  said 
session,  the  judge  shall  hold  his  place  as  is  herein  provided.  But  a 
judge  of  any  court  shall  be  removed  from  office,  if,  upon  impeachment, 
he  shall  be  found  guilty  of  any  official  misdemeanor. 

SEC.  5.  In  case  of  vacancy  by  death,  resignation,  removal  from  the 
state  or  from  office,  refusal  or  inability  to  serve,  of  any  judge  of  the 
supreme  court,  the  office  may  be  tilled  by  the  grand  committee,  until 
the  next  annual  election,  and  the  judge  then  elected  shall  hold  his 
office  as  before  provided.  In  cases  of  impeachment  or  temporary 
absence_  or  inability,  the  governor  may  appoint  a  person  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  the  office  during  the  vacancy  caused  thereby. 

SEC.  6.  The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  shall  receive  a  compensa- 
tion for  their  services,  which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  con- 
tinuance In  office. 

SEC.  7.  The  towns  of  New  Shoreham  and  Jamestown  may  con- 
tinue to  elect  their  wardens  as  heretofore.  The  other  towns  and  the 
city  of  Providence  may  elect  such  number  of  justices  of  the  peace, 
resident  therein,  as  they  may  deem  proper.  The  jurisdiction  of  said 
justices  and  wardens  shall  be  regulated  by  law.  The  justices  shall  be 
commissioned  by  the  governor. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

OF  DIPEACHMF.XTS. 

SECTION  1.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  have  the  sole  power 
of  impeachment.  A  vote  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  elected 
shall  be  required  for  an  impeachment  of  the  governor.  Any  officer 
impeached  shall  thereby  be  suspended  from  office  until  judgment  in 
the  case  shall  have  been  pronounced. 

SEC.  2.  All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  senate:  and,  when 
sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  under  oath  or  affirmation.  Xo 
person  shall  be  convicted,  except  by  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
elected.  When  the  governor  is  impeached,  the  chief  or  presiding 
justice  of  the  supreme  court,  for  the  time  being,  shall  preside,  with  a 
casting  vote  in  all  preliminary  questions. 

SEC.  3.  The  governor  and  all  other  executive  and  judicial  officers 
shall  be  liable  to  impeachment :  but  judgment  in  such  cases  shall  not 
extend  further  than  to  removal  from  office.  The  person  convicted 
shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial  and  punishment 
according  to  law. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

•  OF  EDUCATION. 

SECTION  1.  The  diffusion  of  knowledge,  as  well  as  of  virtue  among 
the  people,  being  essential  to  the  preservation  of  their  rights  and 
liberties,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  promote  pub- 
lic schools,  and  to  adopt  al'l  means  which  they  may  deem  necessary 
and  proper  to  secure  to  the  people  the  advantages  and  opportunities  of 
education.' 

SEC.  2.  The  money  which  now  is.  or  whichMnay  hereafter  be  ap- 
propriated by  law  for  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  fund  for  the 


APPENDIX.  315 

support  of  public  schools  shall  be  securely  invested,  and  remain  a  per- 
petual fund  for  that  purpose. 

SEC.  3.  All  donations  for  the  support  of  public  schools,  or  for  other 
purposes  of  education,  which  may  be  received  by  the  General 
Assembly,  shall  be  applied  according  to  the  terms  prescribed  by  the 
donors. 

SEC.  4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  make  all  necessary  provisions 
by  law  for  carrying  this  article  into  effect.  They  shall  not  divert  said 
money  or  fund  from  the  aforesaid  uses,  nor  borrow,  appropriate,  or  use 
the  same,  or  any  part  thereof,  for  any  other  purpose,  under  any  pre- 
tence whatsoever. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

ON   AMENDMENTS. 

The  General  Assembly  may  propose  amendments  to  this  constitu- 
tion by  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each 
house.  Such  propositions  for  amendment  shall  be  published  in  the 
newspapers  and  printed  copies  of  them  shall  be  sent  by  the  secretary 
of  state,  with  the  names  of  all  the  members  who  shall  have  voted 
thereon,  with  the  yeas  and  nays,  to  all  the  town  and  city  clerks  in  the 
state.  The  said  propositions  shall  be,  by  said  clerks,  inserted  in  the 
warrants  or  notices  by  them  issued,  for  warning  the  next  annual  town 
and  ward  meetings  in  April;  and  the  clerks  shall  read  said  proposi- 
tions to  the  electors  when  thus  assembled,  with  the  names  of  all  the 
representatives  and  senators  who  shall  have  voted  thereon,  with  the 
yeas  and  nays,  before  the  election  of  senators  and  representatives  shall 
be  had.  If  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  house,  at 
said  annual  meeting,  shall  approve  any  proposition  thus  made,  the 
same  shall  be  published  and  submitted  to  the  electors  in  the  mode 
provided  in  the  act  of  approval;  and  if  then  approved  by  three-fifths 
of  the  electors  of  the  state  present,  and  voting  thereon  in  town  and 
ward  meetings,  it  shall  become  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  state. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

ON   THE   ADOPTION   OF  THIS   CONSTITUTION. 

SECTION  1.  This  constitution,  if  adopted,  shall  go  into  operation 
on  the  first  Tuesday  of  May,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-three.  The  first  election  of  governor,  lieutenant-governor, 
secretary  of  state,  attorney-general  and  general  treasurer,  and  of  sen- 
ators and  representatives  under  said  constitution,  shall  be  had  on  the 
first  Wednesday  of  April  next  preceding,  by  the  electors  qualified 
under  said  constitution.  And  the  town  and  ward  meetings  therefor 
shall  be  warned  and  conducted  as  is  now  provided  by  law.  All  civil 
and  military  officers  now  elected,  or  who  shall  hereafter  be  elected, 
by  the  General  Assembly,  or  other  competent  authority,  before  the 
said  first  Wednesday  of  April,  shall  hold  their  offices  and  may  exercise 
their  powers  until  the  said  first  Tuesday  of  May,  or  until  their  succes- 
sors shall  be  qualified  to  act.  All  statutes,  public  and  private,  not 
repugnant  to  this  constitution,  shall  continue  in  force  until  they  ex- 
pire by  their  own  limitation,  or  are  repealed  by  the  General  Assembly. 
All  charters,  contracts,  judgments,  actions,  and  rights  of  action  shall 
be  as  valid  as  if  this  constitution  had  not  been  made  The  present 
government  shall  exercise  all  the  powers  with  which  it  is  now  clothed, 
until  the  said  first  Tuesday  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
forty-three,  and  until  the  government  under  this  constitution  is  duly 
organized. 


316  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

SEC.  2.  All  debts  contracted  and  engagements  entered  into,  before 
the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  state  as 
if  this  constitution  had  not  been  adopted. 

SEC.  3.  The  supreme  court,  established  by  this  constitution,  shall 
have  the  same  jurisdiction  as  the  supreme  judicial  court  at  present 
established,  and  shall  have  jurisdiction  of  all  causes  which  may  be 
appealed  to,  or  pending  in  the  same ;  and  shall  be  held  at  the  same 
times  and  places,  and  in  each  county,  as  the  present  supreme  judicial 
court,  until  otherwise  prescribed  by  the  General  Assembly. 

SEC.  4.  The  towns  of  New  Shoreham  and  Jamestown  shall  con- 
tinue to  enjoy  the  exemptions  from  military  duty  which  they  now 
enjoy,  until  otherwise  prescribed  by  law. 

Done  in  convention,  at  East  Greenwich,  this  fifth  day  of  November, 
A.  D.  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-two. 

JAMES  FENNER.  President. 
HENRY  Y.  CRANSTON,   Vice-Pres't. 

THOMAS  A.  JEXCKKS,    )  0^_  ,„..  . 
WALTER  W.  UPDIKE,  (  a**etart<*. 


ADOPTED  NOVEMBER,  1854. 


ARTICLE  I. 

It  shall  not  be  necessary  for  the  town  or  ward  clerks  to  keep  and 
transmit  to  the  General  Assembly  a  list  or  register  of  all  persons  vot- 
ing for  general  officers ;  but  the  General  Assembly  shall  have  power 
to  pass  such  laws  on  the  subject  as  they  may  deem  expedient. 

ARTICLE   II. 

The  governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate, 
shall  hereafter  exclusively  exercise  the  pardoning  power,  except  in 
cases  of  impeachment,  to  the  same  extent  as  such  power  is  now  exer- 
cised by  the  General  Assembly. 

ARTICLE   III. 

There  shall  be  one  session  of  the  General  Assembly  holdeu  annually, 
commencing  on  the  last  Tuesday  in  May,  at  Newport,  and  an  adjourn- 
ment from  the  same  shall  be  hoklen  annually  at  Providence. 


ADOPTED  AUGUST,  1864. 
ARTICLE  IV. 

Electors  of  this  state  who  in  time  of  war  are  absent  from  the  state, 
in  the  actual  military  service  of  the  United  States,  being  otherwise 
qualified,  shall  have  a  right  to  vote  in  all  elections  in  the  state  for 
electors  of  president  and  vice-president  of  the  United  States,  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress,  and  general  officers  of  the  state.  The  General 
Assembly  shall  have  full  power  to  provide  by  law  for  carrying  this 
article  into  effect ;  and  until  such  provision  shall  be  made  by  law, 
every  such  absent  elector  on  the  day  of  such  elections,  may  deliver  a 
written  or  printed  ballot,  with  the  names  of  the  persons  voted  for 
thereon,  and  his  Christian  and  surname,  and  his  voting  residence  in 
the  state,  written  at  length  on  the  back  thereof,  to  the  officer  com 
mandiiig  the  regiment  or  company  to  which  he  belongs;  and  all  such 
ballots,  certified  by  such  commanding  officer  to  have  been  given  by  the 
elector  whose  name  is  written  thereon,  and  returned  by  such  com- 
manding officer  to  the  secretary  of  state  within  the  time  prescribed  by 
law  for  counting  the  votes  in'  such  elections,  shall  be  received  and 
counted  with  the  same  effect  as  if  given  by  such  elector  in  open  town, 
ward,  or  district  meeting:  and  the  clerk  of  each  town  or  city,  until 
otherwise  provided  by  law.  shall,  within  rive  days  after  any  such 
election,  transmit  to  the  secretary  of  state  a  certified  list  of  the  names 
of  all  such  electors  on  their  respective  voting  lists. 


[Uopij  of  the  Dorr  Constitution.] 


CONSTITUTION 


itate  of 


AS  FINALLY  ADOPTED    BY    THE    CONVENTION  OF  THE    PEOPLE   ASSEM- 
BLED AT  PROVIDENCE,  ON  THE  18TH  DAY  OF  NOVEMBER,  1841. 


WE,  the  PEOPLE  of  the  STATE  of  RHODE  ISLAND  and  PROVI- 
DENCE PLANTATIONS, .grateful  to  Almighty  God  for  His  blessing  vouch- 
safed to  the  "  lively  experiment "  of  Religious  and  Political  Freedom 
here  "  held  forth  "  hy  our  venerated  ancestors,  and  earnestly  implor- 
ing the  favor  of  His  gracious  Providence  toward  this  our  attempt  to 
secure,  upon  a  permanent  foundation,  the  advantages  of  well  ordered 
and  rational  Liberty,  and  to  enlarge  and  transmit  to  our  successors 
the  inheritance  that  we  have  received,  do  ordain  and  establish  the 
following  CONSTITUTION  of  Government  for  this  State: 

ARTICLE  I. 

DECLARATIONS  OF   PRINCIPLES  AND  RIGHTS. 

1.  In  the  spirit  of  and  in  the  words  of  ROGER  WILLIAMS,  the  illus- 
trious founder  of  this  state,  and  of  his  venerated  associates,   WE 
DECLARE  "  that  this  government  shall  be  a  DEMOCRACY,"  or  govern- 
ment of  the  PEOPLE.   "  by  the  major  consent"  of  the  same,  "ONLY 
IN  CIVIL  THINGS."    The  will  of  the  people  shall  be  expressed  by  repre- 
sentatives freely  chosen,  and  returning  at  fixed  periods  to   their  con- 
stituents.   This  state  shall  be  and  forever  remain,  as  in  the  design  of 
its  founder,  sacred  to  "  SOUL  LIBERTY,"  to  the  rights  of  conscience, 
to  freedom  of  thought,  of  expression _and  of  action,  as  hereinafter  set 
forth  and  secured. 

2.  All  men  are  created  free  and  equal  and  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  natural,  inherent  and  inalienable  rights,  among 


320  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

ARTICLE  II. 

OF   ELECTORS   AXD   THE   EIGHT  OF  SUFFRAGE. 

1.  Every  white  male  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  who  has  resided  in  this  state  for  one  year,  and  in 
any  town,  city  or  district  of  the  same  for  six  months  next  preceding 
the  election  at  which  he  offers  to  vote,  shall  be  an  elector  of  all  officers 
who  are  elected  or  may  hereafter  be  made  eligible  by  the  people.    But 
persons  in  the  military,  naval  or  marine  service  of  the  United  States 
shall  not  be  considered  as  having  such  established  residence  by  being 
stationed  in  any  garrison,  barrack  or  military  place  in  any  town  or 
city  in  this  state. 

2.  Paupers  and  persons  under  guardianship,  insane  or  lunatic  are 
excluded  from  the  electoral  right;  and  the  same  shall  be  forfeited  on 
conviction  of  bribery,  forgery,  perjury,  theft,  or  other  infamous  crime; 
and  shall  not  be  restored  unless  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly. 

3.  No  person  who  is  excluded  from  voting  for  want  of  the  qualifi- 
cation  first  named  in  section  first  of  this  article,  shall  be  taxed  or  be 
liable  to  do  military  duty:  provided  that  nothing  in  said  first  article 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  exempt  from  taxation  any  property  or  per- 
sons now  liable  to  be  taxed. 

4.  No  elector  who  is  not  possessed  of  and  assessed  for  ratable  prop- 
erty in  his  own  right  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
or  who  shall  have  neglected  or  refused  to  pay  any  tax  assessed  upon 
him  in  any  town,  city  or  district  for  one  year  preceding  the  town.  city. 
ward  or  district  meeting  at  which  he  shall  offer  to  vote,  shall  be  en- 
titled to  vote  on  any  question  of  taxation,  or  the  expenditure  of  any 
public  moneys  in  such  town,  city  or  district,  imtil  the  same  be  paid. 

5.  In  the'city  of  Providence  and  other  cities  no  person  shall  be 
eligible  to  the  office  of  mayor,  alderman  or  common  councilman,  who 
is  not  taxed  or  who  shall  have  neglected  or  refused  to  pay  his  tax,  as 
provided  in  the  preceding  section. 

6.  The  voting  for  all  officers  chosen  by  the  people,  except  town  or 
city  officers,  shall  be  by  ballot:  that  is  to  say,  by  depositing  a  written 
or  printed  ticket  in  the  ballot  box,  without  the  name  of  the  voter  writ- 
ten thereon.    Town  or  city  officers  shall  be  chosen  by  ballot,  on  the 
demand  of  any  two  persons  entitled  to  vote  for  the  same. 

7.  There  shall  be  a  strict  registration  of  all  qualified  voters  in  the 
towns  and  cities  of  the  state;  and  no  person  shall  be  permitted  to  vote 
whose  name  has  not  been  entered  upon  the  list  of  voters  before  the 
polls  are  opened. 

8.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  all  necessary  laws  for  the  pre- 
vention of  fraudulent  voting  by  persons  not  having  an  actual  per- 
manent residence  or  home    in  the  state,  or  otherwise    disqualified 
according  to  this  constitution;  for  the  careful  registration  of  all  voters, 
previously  to  the  time  of  voting:  for  the  prevention  of  frauds  upon  the 
ballot  box:  for  the  preservation  of  the  purity  of  elections;  and  for  the 
safe  keeping  and  accurate  counting  of  the  votes:  to  the  end  that  the 
will  of  the  people  may  be  freely  and  fully  expressed,  truly  ascertained 
and  effectuatly  exerted,  without  intimidation,  suppression  or  unneces- 
sary delay. 

9.  The  electors  shall  be  exempted  from  arrest  on  days  of  election 
and  one  day  before  and  one  day  after  the  same,  except  in  cases  of 
treason,  felony  or  breach  of  the  peace. 

10.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  any  office  by  the  votes  of  the 
people  who  does  not  possess  the  qualifications  of  an  elector. 


APPENDIX.  321 

ARTICLE  III. 

OF   THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF    POWEKS. 

1.  The  powers  of  the  government  shall  be.  distributed  into  three 
departments,  the  legislative,  the  executive  and  the  judicial. 

2.  No  person  or  persons  connected  with  one  of  these  departments 
shall  exercise  any  of  the  powers  belonging  to  either  of  the  others, 
except  in  cases  herein  directed  or  permitted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

OF   THE    LEGISLATIVE   DEPARTMENT. 

1.  The  legislative  power  shall  be  vested  in  two  distinct  houses,  the 
one  to  be  called  the  house  of  representatives,  the  other  the  senate, 
and  both  together  the  General  Assembly.    The  concurrent  votes  of 
the  two  houses  shall  be  necessary  to  the  enactment  of  laws;  and  the 
style  of  their  laws  shall  be — Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  as 
follows. 

2.  No  member  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  eligible  to  any 
civil  office  under  the  authority  of  the  state  during  the  term  for  which 
he  shall  have  been  elected. 

3.  If  any  representative  or  senator  in  the  General  Assembly  of  this 
state  shall  be  appointed  to  any  office  under  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  shall  accept  the  same  after  his  election  as  such 
senator  or  representative,  his  seat  shall  thereby  become  vacant. 

4.  Any  person  who  holds  an  office  under  the  government, of  the 
United  States  may  be  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  and 
may  hold  his  seat  therein  if  at  the  time  of  taking  his  seat  he  shall  have 
resigned  said  office,  and  shall  declare  the  same  on  oath  or  affirmation, 
if  required. 

5.  No  member  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  take  any  fees,  be  of 
counsel,  or  act  as  advocate  in  any  case  pending  before  either  branch 
of  the  General  Assembly,  under  penalty  of  forfeiting  his  seat  upon 
due  proof  thereof. 

6.  Each  house  shall  judge  of  the  election  and  qualifications  of  its 
members;  and  a  majority  of  all  the  members  of  each  house,  whom 
the  towns  and  senatorial  districts  are  entitled  to  elect,  shall  constitute 
a  quorum  to  do  business;  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from 
day  to  day,  and  may  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members  in 
such  manner  and  under  such  penalties  as  each  house  may  have  pre- 
viously prescribed. 

7.  Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish 
its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,   and,  with  the  concurrence  of 
two-thirds  of  the  members  elected,  expel  a  member;  but  not  a  second 
time  for  the  same  cause. 

8.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  publish 
the  same  when  required  by  one-fifth  of  its  members.    The  yeas  and 
nays  of  the  members  of  either  house  shall,  at  the  desire  of  any  five 
members  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

9.  Neither  house  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn 
for  more  than  two  days,  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  at  which  the 
General  Assembly  is  holding  its  session. 

10.  The  senators    and  representatives  shall  in  all  cases  of  civil 
process  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  the  session  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  for  two  days  before  the  commencement  and  two  days 
after  the  termination  of  any  session  thereof.   For  any  speech  in  debate 
in  either  house  no  member  shall  be  called  in  question  in  any  other 
place. 

21 


322  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

11.  The  civil  and  military  officers  heretofore  elected    in   grand 
committee  shall  hereafter  be  elected  annually  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  joint  committee,  composed  of  the  two  houses  of  the  General 
Assembly,  excepting  as  is  otherwise  provided  in  this  constitution, 
and  excepting  the  captains  and  subalterns  of  the  militia  who  shall  be 
elected  by  the  ballots  of  the  members  composing  their  respective 
companies,  in  such  manner  as  the  General  Assembly  may  prescribe; 
and  such  officers  so  elected  shall  be  approved  of  and   commissioned 
by  the  governor,  who  shall  determine  their  rank,  and  if  said  compa- 
nies shall   neglect  or  refuse  to  make  such  elections  after  being  duly 
notified,  then  the  governor  shall  appoint  suitable  persons  to  fill  such 
offices. 

12.  Every  bill  and  every  resolution  requiring  the  concurrence  of 
the  two  houses  (votes  of  adjournment  accepted)  which  shall  have 
passed  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  shall  be  presented  to 
the  governor  for  his  revision.    If  he  approve  of  it  he  shall  sign  and 
transmit  the  same  to  the  secretary  of  state,  but  if  not  he  shall  return 
it  to  the  house  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  with  his  objections 
thereto  which  shall  be  entered  at  large  on  their  journal.    The  house 
shall  then  proceed  to  reconsider  the  bill;  and  if  after  such  reconsidera- 
tion that  house  shall    pass  it  by  a   majority  of   all  the    members 
elected,  it  shall  be  sent  with  the  objections  to  the  other  house  which 
shall  also  reconsider  it:   and  if  approved  by  that  house  by  a  majority 
of  all  the  members  elected  it  shall  become  a  law.     If  the  bill  shall 
not  be  returned  by  the  governor   within   forty-eight   hours  (Sundays 
excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be- 
come a  Jaw,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  General 
Assembly  by  their  adjournment  prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it 
shall  not' be 'a  law. 

13.  There  shall  be  two  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  in  every 
year;  one  session  to  be  held  at  Newport,  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  June, 
for  the  organization  of  the  government,  the  election  of  officers,   and 
for  other  business ;  and  one  other  session  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  Jan- 
uary, to  be  held  at  Providence,  in  the  first  year  after  the  adoption  of 
this  constitution  and  in  every  second  year  thereafter.     In  the  inter- 
mediate years  the  January  session  shall  be  forever  hereafter  held  in 
the  counties  of  Washington,  Kent,  or  Bristol,  as  the  General  Assem- 
bly may  determine  before  their  adjournment  in  June. 

ARTICLE   V. 

OF  THE   HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES. 

1.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  consist  of  members  chosen 
by  the  electors  in  the  several  towns  and  cities  in  their  respective  town 
and  ward  meetings  annually. 

'_'.  The  towns  and  cities  shall  severally  be  entitled  to  elect  mem- 
bers according  to  the  apportionment  which  follows,  viz:  Newport  to 
elect  five:  Warwick,  four;  Smithfield,  five;  Cumberland,  North  Provi- 
dence and  Scituate,  three;  Portsmouth,  Westerly,  New  Shoreham, 
North  Kingstown,  South  Kingstown,  East  Greenwich,  Glocester, 
West  Greenwich,  Coventry,  Exeter,  Bristol,  Tiverton,  Little  Cemp- 
ton,  Warren,  Richmond.  Cranston,  Charlestown,  Hopkinton,  Johns- 
ton, Foster  and  Burrillvilleto  elect  two;  and  Jamestown,  Middletown 
and  Barrington  to  elect  one. 

3.  In  the  city  of  Providence  there  shall  be  six  representative  dis- 
tricts, which  shall  be  the  six  wards  of  said  city.  And  the  electors 
resident  in  said  districts  for  the  term  of  three  months  next  preceding 
the  election  at  which  they  offer  to  vote,  shall  be  entitled  to  elect  two 
representatives  for  each  district. 


APPENDIX.  323 

4.  The  General  Assembly  in  case  of  great  inequality  in  the  popu- 
lation of  the  wards  of  the  city  of  Providence,  may  cause  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  six  representative  districts  therein  to  be  so  altered  as  to 
include  in  each  district  as  nearly  as  may  be,  an  equal  number  of  in- 
habitants. 

5.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  have  authority  to  elect  their 
own  speaker,  clerks  and  other  officers.    The  oath  of  'office  shall  be 
administered  to  the  speaker  by  the  secretary  of  state,  or,  in  his  absence, 
by  the  attorney-general. 

6.  Whenever  the  seat  of  a  member  of  the  house  of  representatives 
shall  be  vacated  by  death,  resignation,  or  otherwise,  the  vacancy  may 
be  filled  by  a  new  election. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

OF   THE   SENATE. 

1.  The  state  shall  be  divided  into  twelve  senatorial  districts;   and 
each  district  shall  be  entitled  to  one  senator,  who  shall   be  annually 
chosen  by  the  electors  in  his  district. 

2.  The  first,  second  and  third  representative  districts  in  the  city  of 
Providence   shall  constitute  the   first  senatorial   district;  the   fourth, 
fifth  and  sixth  representative  districts  in  said  city  the  second   district; 
the  town  of  Stnithfield  the  third  district;  the  towns  of  North   Provi- 
dence and   Cumberland  the  fourth  district;  the  towns  of  Scituate, 
Glocester,  Burrillville   and   Johnston  the  fifth  district;    the  towns   of 
Warwick  and  Cranston  the  sixth   district;  the  towns  of  East  Green- 
wich, West  Greenwich,  Coventry  and  Foster  the  seventh  district;  the 
towns  of  Newport,   Jamestown   and   New  Shorehain  the  eighth  dis- 
trict; the  towns  of   Portsmouth,   Middletown,  Tiverton  and   Little 
Compton  the  ninth  district;  the  towns  of  North  Kingstown  and  South 
Kingstown  the  tenth  district;  the  towns  of  Westerly,  Charlestown, 
Exeter,  Richmond  and  Hopkinton  the  eleventh  district;  the  towns  of 
Bristol,  Warren  and  Barrington  the  twelfth  district. 

3.  The  lieutenant-governor,   shall  be  by  virtue  of  his  office,  presi- 
dent of  the  senate;  and  shall  have  a  right,  in  case  of  an  equal  division 
to  vote  in  the  same,  and  also  to  vote  in  joint  committe  of  the  two 
houses. 

4.  When  the  government  shall  be  administered  by  the  lieutenant- 
governor,  or  he  shall  be  unable  to  attend  as  president  of  the  senate, 
the  senate  shall  elect  one  of  their  own  members  president  of  the 
same. 

5.  Vacancies  in  the  senate  occasioned  by  death,   resignation  or 
otherwise,  may  be  filled  by  a  new  election. 

6.  The  secretary  of  state  shall  be,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  secretary 
of  the  senate. 

ARTICLE    VII. 

OF   IMPEACHMENTS. 

1.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  im- 
peachment. 

'2.  All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  senate;  and  when  sitting 
for  that  purpose  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation.  No  person 
shall  be  convicted  except  by  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
elected.  When  the  governor  is  impeached  the  chief-justice  of  the 
supreme  court  shall  preside,  with  a  casting  vote  in  all  preliminary 
questions. 

3.  The  governor  and  all  other  executive  and1  judicial  officers  shall 
be  liable  to  impeachment,  but  judgments  in  such  cases  shall  not 


324  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

extend  further  than  removal  from  office.  The  party  convicted  shall 
nevertheless  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial  and  punishment,  according 
to  law. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

OF   THE    EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENT. 

1.  The  chief  executive  power  of  this  state,  shall  be  vested  in  a 
governor  who  shall  be  chosen  by  the  electors,  and  shall  hold  his  office 
for  one  year  and  until  his  successor  be  duly  qualirit  d. 

2.  No  person  holding  any  office  or  place  under  the  United  States, 
this  state,  any  other  of  the  United  States,  or  any  foreign  power,  shall 
exercise  the  office  of  governor. 

3.  He  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed. 

4.  He  shall  be  commander-iii-chief  of  the  military  and  naval  forces 
of  the  state,  except  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United 
States  ;  but  he  shall  not  march  nor  convey  any  of  the  citizens  out  of 
the  state  without  their  consent,  or  that  of  the  General  Assembly,  un- 
less it  shall  become  necessary  in  order  to  march  or  transport  them 
from  one  part  of  the  state  to  another,  for  the  defence  thereof. 

5.  He  shall  appoint  all  civil  and  military  officers  whose  appoint- 
ment is  not  by  this  constittition,  or  shall  not,  by  law.  be  otherwise 
provided  for. 

6.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  inform  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
condition  of  the  state,  and  recommend  to  their  consideration  such 
measures  as  he  may  deem  expedient. 

7.  He  may  require  from  any  military  officer  or  any  officer  in  the 
executive  department,  information  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the 
duties  of  his  office. 

8.  He  shall  have  power  to  remit  forfeitures  and  penalties,  and  to 
grant  reprieves,  commutation  of  punishments  and  pardons  after  con- 
viction, except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

9.  The  governor  shall  at  stated  times  receive   for  bis  services  a 
compensation,  which  shall  not  be  increased  nor  diminished  during  his 
continuance  in  office. 

10.  There  shall  be  elected  in  the  same  manner  as  is  provided  for' 
the  election  of  governor,  a  lieutenant-governor,  who  shall  continue  in 
office  for  the  same  term  of  time.    Whenever  the  office  of  governor 
shall  become  vacant  by  death,  resignation,  removal  from  office  or 
otherwise,  the  lieutenant-governor  shall  exercise  the  office  of  governor 
until  another  governor  shall  be  duly  qualified. 

11.  AVYienever  the  offices  of  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  shall 
both  become  vacant  by  death,   resignation,   removal   from  office,  or 
otherwise,   the  president  of  the  senate  shall  exercise  the    office  of 
governor  until  a  governor  be  duly  qualified :  and  should  such  vacancies 
occur  during  a  recess  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  there  be  no  presi- 
ident  of  the  senate,  the  secretary  of  state  shall  by  proclamation  con- 
vene the  senate,  that  a  president  may  be  chosen  to  exercise  the  office 
of  governor. 

12.  Whenever  the  lieutenant-governor  or  president  of  the  senate 
shall  exercise  the  office  of  governor,  he  shall  receive  the  compensation 
of  governor  only;  and  his  duties  as  president  of  the  senate  shall  cease 
while  he  shall  continue  to  act  as  governor;  and  the  senate  shall  fill 
the  vacancy  by  an  election  from  their  own  body. 

13.  In  case  of  a  disagreement  between  the  two  houses  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  respecting  the  time  or  place  of  adjournment,  the  person 
exercising  the  office  of  governor  may  adjourn   them  to  such  time  or 
place  as  he  shall  think  proper;  provided, that  the  time  of  adjournment 
shall  not  be  extended  beyond  the  first  day  of  the  next  stated  session. 


APPENDIX.  325 

14.  The  person  exercising  the  office  of  governor  may,  in  cases  of 
special  necessity  convene  the  General  Assembly  at  any  town  or  city  in 
this  state,  at  any  other  time  than   herein   before   provided.     And,  in' 
case  of  danger  from  the  prevalence  of  epidemic  or  contagious  diseases, 
or  from  other  circumstances  in  the  place  in  which  the  General  As- 
sembly are  next  to  meet,  he  may  by  proclamation  convene  the  Assem- 
bly at  any  other  place  within  the  state. 

15.  A  secretary  of  state,  a  general  treasurer  and  an  attorney-gen- 
eral shall  also  be  chosen  annually,  in  the  same  manner  and  for  the 
same  time  as  is  herein  provided  respecting  the  governor.    The  duties 
of  these  offices  shall  be  the  same  as  are  now  or  may  hereafter  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.     Should  there  be  a  failure  to  choose  either  of  them,  or 
should  a  vacancy  occur  in  either  of  their  offices,  the  General  Assembly 
shall  fill  the  place  by  an  election  in  joint  committee. 

l(i.  The  electors  in  each  county  shall,  at  the  annual  elections,  vote 
for  an  inhabitant  of  the  county  to  be  sheriff  of  said  county  for  one 
year  and  until  a  successor  be  duly  qualified.  In  case  no  person  shall 
have  a  majority  of  the  electoral  votes  of  his  county  for  sheriff,  the 
General  Assembly,  in  joint  committee,  shall  elect  a  sheriff  from  the 
two  candidates,  who  shall  have  the  greatest  number  of  votes  in  such 
county. 

17.  All  commissions  shall  be  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  state, 
and  attested  by  the  secretary. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

GENERAL     PROVISION,". 

1.  This  constitution  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  state,  and  all 
laws  contrary  to  or  inconsistent  with  the  same  which  may  be  passed 
by  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  null  and  void. 

2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  all  necessary  laws  for  carrying 
this  constitution  into  effect. 

3.  The  judges  of  all  the  courts,  and  all  other  officers,  both  civil 
and  military,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to  the  due  obser- 
vance of   this  constitution  and  of  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

4.  No  jurisdiction  shall  hereafter  be  entertained  by  the  General 
Assembly  in  cases  of  insolvency,  divorce,  sale  of  real  estate  of  minors, 
or  appeal  from  judicial  decisions,  nor  in  any  other  matters  appertain- 
ing to  the  jurisdiction  of  judges  and  courts  of  law.     But  the  General 
Assembly  shall  confer  upon  the  courts  of  the  state  all  necessary  pow- 
ers for  affording  relief  in  the  cases  herein   named;  and   the  General 
Assembly   shall  exercise   all  other  jurisdiction  and   authority   which 
they  have  heretofore  entertained,  mid  which  is  not  prohibited  by,  or 
repugnant  to  this  constitution. 

5.  The  General  Assembly  shall   from  time  to  time   cause  estimates 
to  be  made  of  the  ratable  property  of  the  state,  in  order  to  the  equita- 
ble apportionment  of  state  taxes. 

6.  Whenever  a  direct  tax  is  laid  by  the  state,  one-sixth  part  thereof 
shall  be  assessed  on  the  polls  of  the  qualified  electors,  provided  that 
the  tax  on  a  poll  shall  never  exceed  the  sum  of  fifty  cents,  and  that  all 
persons  who  actually  perform  military  duty,  or  duty  in  the  fire  depart- 
ment, shall  be  exempted  from  said  poll  tax. 

7.  The  General  Assembly  shall   have   no  power  hereafter  to   incur 
state  debts  to  an  amount  exceeding  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
except   in   time  of  war,  or   in  case   of  invasion,   without  the  express 
consent  of  the  people.     Every  proposition  for   such   increase  shall   be 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

submitted  to  the  electors  at  the  next  annual  election,  or  on  some  day 
to  be  set  apart  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  not  be  farther  entertained 
by  the  General  Assembly,  unless  it  receive  the  votes  of  a  majority  of 
all  the  persons  voting.  This  section  shall  not  be  construed  to  refer  to 
any  money  that  now  is,  or  hereafter  may  be,  deposited  with  this  state 
by 'the  general  government. 

8.  The  assent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  elected  to  each  house 
of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  requisite  to  every  bill  appropriating 
the  public  moneys,  or  property  for  local  or  priva'te  purposes;  or  for 
creating,  continuing,  altering  or  renewing  any  body  politic  or  corpo- 
rate, banking  corporations  excepted. 

9.  Hereafter  when  any  bill  creating,  continuing,  altering  or  renew- 
ing any  banking  corporation,  authorized  to  issue  its  promissory  notes 
for  circulation  shall  pass  the  two  houses  of  the  General  Assembly, 
instead  of  being  sent  to  the  governor,  it  shall  be  referred  to  the  electors 
for  their  consideration  at  the  next  annual  election,  or  on  some  day  to 
be  set  apart  for  that  purpose,  with  printed  tickets,  containing  the 
question,  shall  said  bill  (with  a  brief  description  thereof)  be  approved, 
or  not ;  and  if  a  majority  of  the  electors  voting  shall  vote  to  approve 
said  bill  it  shall  become  a  law,  otherwise  not. 

10.  All  grants  of  incorporation  shall  be  subject  to  future  acts  of 
the  General  Assembly,  in  amendment  or  repeal  thereof,  or  in  any 
wise  affecting  the  same,  and  this  provision  shall  be  inserted  in  all  acts 
of  incorporation  hereafter  granted. 

11.  The  General  Assembly  shall  exercise  as  heretofore  a  visitorial 
power  over  corporations.    Three  bank  commissioners  shall  be  ct 

at  the  June  session  for  one  year,  to  cany  out  the  powers  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  this  respect.  And  commissioners  for  the  visitation 
of  other  corporations,  as  the  General  Assembly  may  deem  expedient, 
shall  be  chosen  at  the  June  session  for  the  same  term  of  office. 

12.  No  city  council  or  other  government  in  any  city  shall  have 
power  to  vote  any  tax  upon  the  inhabitants  thereof,  excepting  the 
amount  necessary  to  meet  the  ordinary  public  expenses  in  the  same, 
without  first  submitting  the  question  of  an  additional  tax  or  taxes  to 
the  electors  of  said  city:  and  a  majority  of  all  who  vote  shall  deter- 
mine the  question.    But  no  elector  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  in  any 
city  upon  any  question  of  taxation  thus  submitted,  unless  he  shall 
be  qualified  by  the  possession  in  his  own  right  of  ratable  property  to 
the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  shall  have  been  as- 
sessed thereon  to  pay  a  city  tax,  and  shall  have  paid  the  same  as 
provided  in  section  fourth  of  Article  II.    Nothing  in  that  article 
shall  be  construed  as  to  prevent  any  elector  from  voting  for  town 
officers,  and  in  the  city  of    Providence  and  other  cities  for  mayor, 
aldermen,  and  members  of  the  common  council. 

13.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not  pass  any  law  nor  cause  any 
act  or  thing  to  be  done  in  any  way  to  disturb  any  of  the  owners  or 
occupants  of  land  in  any  territory  now  under  the  jurisdiction  of  any 
other  state  or  states,  the  jurisdiction  whereof  may  be  ceded  to,  or 
decreed  to  belong  to  this  state;    and  the  inhabitants'of  such  territory 
shall  continue  in  the  full,  quiet  and  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  their 
titles  to  the  same,  without  interference  in  any  way  on  the  part  of  this 
state. 

ARTICLE   X. 

OF  ELECTIONS. 

1.    The  election  of  the  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  secretary  of 
state,  general  treasurer,  attorney-general,  and  also  of  senators  and 
representatives  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  of  sheriffs  of  the  coun- 
>hall  be  held  on  the  third  Wednesday  of  April,  annually. 


APPENDIX.  327 

'2.  The  names  of  the  persons  voted  for  as  governor,  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, secretary  of  state,  general  treasurer,  attorney-general  and 
sheriffs  of  the  respective  counties,  shall  be  put  upon  one  ticket ;  and 
the  tickets  shall  he  deposited  by  the  electors  in  a  box  by  themselves. 
The  names  of  the  persons  voted  for  as  senators  and  as  representatives 
shall  be  put  upon  separate  tickets,  and  the  tickets  shall  be  deposited 
in  separate  boxes.  The  polls  for  all  the  officers  named  in  this  section 
shall  be  opened  at  the  same  time. 

3.  All  the  votes  given  for  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  secretary 
of  state,  general  treasurer,   attorney-general,   sheriffs,  arid  also  for 
senators  shall  remain  in  the  ballot  boxes  till  the  polls  be  closed.    These 
votes  shall  then,  in  open  town  and  ward  meetings,  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  at  least  ten  qualified  voters,  be  taken  out  and  sealed  up  in 
separate  envelopes  by  the  moderators  and  town  clerks  and  by  the 
wardens  and  ward  clerks,  who  shall  certify  the  same  and  forthwith 
deliver  or  send  them  to  the  secretary  of  state,  whose  duty  it  shall  be 
securely  to  keep  the  same,  and  to  deliver  the  votes  for  state  officers 
and  sheriffs  to  the  speaker  of  the   house  of  representatives   after  the 
house  shall  be  organized  at  the  June  session  of  the  General  Assembly. 
The  votes  last  named  shall,  without  delay,  be  opened,  counted  and 
declared   in  such  manner  as  the  house  of  representatives  shall  direct, 
and  the  oath  of  office  shall  be  administered  to  the  persons  who  shall 
be  declared  to  be  elected  by  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives, and  in  the  presence  of  the  house  ;  provided  that  the   sheriffs 
may  take  their    engagement  before  a  senator,  judge  or  justice  of 
the  peace.     The  votes  for  senators  shall  be  counted  by  the  governor 
and  secretary  of  state  within  seven  days  from  the  day  of  election  ; 
and    the  governor  shall  give  certificates  to  the  senators  who    are 
elected. 

4.  The  boxes  containing  the  votes  for  representatives  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  the  several  towns  shall  not  be  opened  till  the  polls 
for  representatives  are  declared  to  be  closed.    The  votes  shall  then  be 
counted  by  the  moderator  and  clerk,  who  shall  announce  the  result 
and  give  certificates  to  the  persons  elected.     If  there  be  no  election, 
or  not  an  election  of  the  whole  number  of  representatives  to  which 
the  town  is  entitled,  the  polls  for  representatives  may  be  reopened,  and 
the  like  proceedings  shall  be  had  until  an  election  shall  take  place  ; 
provided,  however,  that  an  adjournment  of  the  election  may  be  made 
to  a  time  not  exceeding'  seven  days  from  the  first  meeting. 

5.  In  the  city  of  Providence  and  other  cities,  the  polls  for  repre- 
sentatives shall  be  kept  open  during  the  whole  time  of  voting  for  the 
day;  and  the  votes  in  the  several  wards  shall  be  sealed  up  at  the  close 
of  the  meeting  by  the  wardens  and  ward  clerks,  in  the  presence  of  at 
least  ten  qualified  electors,  and  delivered  to  the  city  clerks.    The 
mayor  and  aldermen  of  said  city  or  cities  shall  proceed  to  count  said 
votes  within  two  days  from  the  day  of  election;  and  if  no  election,  or 
an  election  of  only  a  portion  of  the  representatives  whom  the  repre- 
sentative districts  are  entitled  to  elect  shall  have  taken  place,  the 
mayor  and  aldermen  shall  order  a  new  election,  to  beheld  not  more  than 
ten  days  from  the  day  of  the  first  election;  and  so  on  till  the  election 
of  representatives  shall  be  completed.     Certificates  of  election  shall  be 
furnished  to  the  persons  chosen  by  the  city  clerks. 

6.  If  there  be  no  choice  of  a  senator  or  senators  at  the  annual  elec- 
tion, the  governor  shall  issue  his  warrant  to  the  town  and  ward  clerks 
of  the  several  towns  and  cities  in  the  senatorial  district  or  districts  that 
may  have  failed  to  elect,  requiring  them  to  open  town  or  ward  meet- 
ings for  another  election,  on  a  day  not  more  than  fifteen  days  beyond 
the  time  of  counting  the  votes  for  senators.    If,  011  the  second  trial 
there  shall  be  no  choice  of  a  senator  or  senators  the  governor  shall 
certify  the  result  to  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives;  and 


328  HISTOKY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

the  house  of  representatives,  and  as  many  senators  as  shall  have  been 
chosen,  shall  forthwith  elect,  in  joint  committee,  a  senator  «>r  senators 
from  the  two  candidates  who  may  receive  the  highest  number  of  votes 
in  each  district. 

7.  If  there  be  no  choice  of  governor  at  the  annual  election,  the- 
speaker  of  the  house  of    representatives  shall  issue  his  warrant  to  the 
clerks  of  the  several  towns  and  cities  requiring  them  to  notify  town 
and  ward  meetings  for  another  election,  on  a  day  to  be  named  by  him, 
not  more  than  thirty  nor  less  than  twenty  days  beyond  the  time  of 
receiving  the  report  of  the  committee  of  the  house  of  representatives, 
who  shall  count  the  votes  for  governor.    If,  on  this  second  trial  there 
shall  be  no  choice  of  a  governor,  the  two  houses  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, shall,  at  their  next  session,  in  joint  committee  elect  a  gov- 
ernor from  the  two  candidates  having  the  highest  number  of  votes,  to 
hold  his  office  for  the  remainder  of  the  political  year,  and  until  li  - 
•cessor  be  duly  qualified. 

8.  If  there  be  no  choice  of  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  at 
the  annual  election,  the  same  proceedings  for  the  choice  of  a   lieu- 
tenant-governor shall  be  had  as  are  directed  in  the  preceding  section: 
provided  that    the  second  trial  for    the  election   of  governor    and 
lieutenant-governor  shall  be  on  the  same  day:  and  also  provided, 
that  if  the  governor  shall  be  chosen  at  the  annual    election  and  the 
lieutenant-governor  shall  not  be  chosen,  then  the  last  named  officer 
shall  be  elected  in  joint  committee  of  the  two  houses  from  the  two 
candidates  having  the  highest  number  of  votes,  without  a  further  ap- 
peal to  the  electors.    The  lieutenant-governor,  elected  as  is  provided 
in  this  section,  shall  hold  his  office  as  is  provided  in  the  preceding 
section  respecting  the  governor. 

9.  All  town,  city  and  ward  meetings  for  the  choice  of  representa- 
tives, justices  of  tlie  peace,  sheriffs,  senators,  state  officers,  represen- 
tatives to  Congress  and  electors  of  president  and  vice-president,  shall 
be  notified  by  the  town,  city  and  ward  clerks  at  least  seven  days  be- 
fore the  same  are  held. 

10.  In  all  elections  held  by  the  people  under  this  constitution,  a 
majority  of  all  the  electors  voting  shall  be  necessary  to  the  choice  of 
the  person  or  persons  voted  for. 

11.  The  oath  or  affirmation  to  be  taken  by  all  the  officers  named 
in  thisarticle  shall  be  the  following:    You,  being  elected  to  the  place  of 
governor,  lieutenant-governor,  secretary  of  state,  general  treasurer, 
attorney-general,  or  to  the  places  of  senators  or  representatives,  or  to 
the  office  of  sheriff  or  justice  of  the  peace,  do  solemnly  swear,  or 
severally  solemnly  swear,  or  affirm,  that  you  will  be  true  and  faithful 
to  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  and   that 
you  will  support  the  constitution  thereof;  that  you  will  support   the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  that  you  will   faithfully  and 
impartially  discharge  the  duties  of  your  aforesaid  office  to  the  best  of 
your  abilities  and  understanding — So  help  you  God!  or.  this  affirma- 
tion you  make  and  give  upon  the  peril  of  the  penalty  of  perjury. 


AKTK'LK  XI. 

OF  THE    JUDICIARY. 

1.  The  judicial  power  of  this  state  shall  It-  vested  in  one  supreme 
court,  and  in  such  other  courts  inferior  to  the  supreme  court  as  the 
legislature  may,  from  time  to  time,  ordain  and  establish :  and  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  supreme  and  of  all  other  courts,  may.  from  time  to 
time  be  regulated  by  the  General  Assembly. 


APPENDIX.  829 

2.  Chancery  powers  may  be  conferred  on  the  supreme  court;  but 
no  other  court  exercising  chancery  powers  shall  be  established  in  this 
state,  except  as  is  now  provided  by  law. 

3.  The  justices  of    the  supreme  court  shall  be  elected  in  joint 
committee  of  the  two  houses,  to  hold  their  offices  for  one  year,  and 
until  their  places  be  declared  vacant  by  a  resolution  to  that  effect, 
which  shall  be  voted  for  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to 
the  house  in  which  it  may  originate,  and  be  concurred  in  by  the  same 
vote  of  the  other  house,  without  revision  by  the  governor.     Such  reso- 
lution shall  not  be  entertained  at  any  other  than  the  annual  session 
for  the  election  of  public  officers ;  and  in  default  of  the  passage  thereof 
at  the  said  session,  the  jiidge  or  judges  shall  hold  his  or  their  place  or 
places  for  another  year.     But  a  judge  of  any  court  shall  be  removable 
from  office,  if  upon  impeachment,  he  shall  be  found  guilty  of    any 
official  midemeanor. 

4.  In  case  of  vacancy  by  the  death,  resignation,  refusal,  or  inability 
to  serve,  or  removal  from  the  state  of  a  judge  of  any  court,  his  place 
may  be  filled  by  the  joint  committee  until  the  next  annual  election; 
when,  if  elected,  he  shall  hold  his  office  as  herein  provided. 

5.  The  justices  of  the  supreme  court  shall  receive  a  compensation, 
which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in  office. 

6.  The  judges  of  the  courts  inferior  to  the  supreme  court  shall  be 
annually  elected  in  joint  committee  of  the  two  houses,   except  as 
herein  provided. 

7.  There  shall  be  annually  elected  by  each  town  and  by  the  sev- 
eral wards  in  the  city  of  Providence,  a  sufficient  number  of  justices 
of  the  peace  or  wardens  resident  therein  with  such  jurisdiction  as 
the  General  Assembly  may  prescribe.     And  said  justices  or  wardens, 
(except  in  the  towns  of  New  Shoreham   and  Jamestown)  shall  be 
commissioned  by  the  governor. 

8.  The  General  Assembly  may  provide  that  justices  of  the  peace 
who  are  not  re-elected,  may  hold  their  offices  for  a  time  not  exceeding 
ten  days  beyond  the  day  of  the  annual  election  of  these  officers. 

9.  The  courts  of  probate  in  this  state,  except  the  supreme  court, 
shall  remain  as  at  present  established  by  law,  until  the  General  As- 
sembly-shall otherwise  prescribe. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

OF  EDUCATION. 

1.  All  moneys  which  now  are,   or  may  hereafter  be  appropriated 
by  the  authority  of  the  state  to  public  education,  shall  be  securely 
invested^  and  remain  a  perpetual  fund  for  the  maintenance  of  free 
schools  in  this  state ;  and  the  General  Assembly  are  prohibited  from 
diverting  said   moneys  or   fund  from   this  use,  and  from  borrowing, 
appropriating  or  using  the   same  or   any  part  thereof  for  any   other 
purpose,  or  under  any  pretence  whatsoever.     But  the  income  derived 
from  said  moneys  or  fund,  shall  be  annually  paid  over  by  the  general 
treasurer  to  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  state,  for  the  support  of  said 
schools  in  equitable  proportions;  provided,  however,  that  a  portion  of 
said  income  may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  General  Assembly,  be  added 
to  the  principal  of  said  fund. 

2.  The  several  towns  and  cities  shall  faithfully  devote  their  por- 
tions of  said  annual  distribution  to   the  support  of  free  schools;   and 
in  default  thereof  shall  forfeit  their  shares  of  the  same  to  the  in- 
crease of  the  fund. 

3.  All  charitable   donations   for  the  support  of   free  schools  and 
other  purposes  of  public  education,  shall  be  received  by  the  General 


330  HISTORY    OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

Assembly  and  invested,  and  applied  agreeably  to  the  terms  prescribed 
by  the  donors,  provided  the  same  be  not  inconsistent  with  the  ci  KMI- 
tntion,  or  with  sound  public  policy:  in  which  case  the  donation  shall 
not  be  received. 

ARTICLE  XLH. 

AMENDMENTS. 

The  General  Assembly  may  propose  amendments  to  this  constitu- 
tion by  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  all  the .  members  elected  to  each 
house.  Such  propositions  shall  be  published  in  the  newspapers  of 
the  state;  and  printed  copies  of  said  propositions  shall  be  sent  by  the 
secretary  of  state,  with  the  names  of  all  the  members  who  shall  'have 
voted  thereon,  with  the  yeas  and  nays,  to  all  the  town  and  city  clerks 
in  the  state;  and  the  said  propositions  shall  be  by  said  clerks  inserted 
in  the  notices  V«y  them  issued  for  warning  the  next  animal  town  and 
ward  meetings  in  April:  and  the  town  and  ward  clerks  shall  read  said 
propositions  to  the  electors  when  thus  assembled,  with  the  r.r.mes  of 
all  the  representatives  and  senators  who  shall  have  voted  thereon, 
with  the  yeas  and  nays,  before  the  election  of  representatives  arid  sen- 
ators shall  be  had.  If  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  at  said 
annual  meetings,  present  in  each  house,  shall  approve  any  proposition 
thus  made,  the  same  shall  be  published  as  beicre  provided  and  then 
sent  to  the  electors  in  the  mode  provided  in  the  act  of  approval :  and 
if  then  approved  by  a  majority  of  the  electors  who  shall  vote  in  trwn 
and  ward  meetings  to  be  specially  convened  for  that  purpose,  it  shall 
become  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  state. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

OF   THE  ADOPTION'   OF   THE   CONSTITUTION. 

1.  This  constitution  shall  be  submitted  to  the  people  for  their 
adoption  or  rejection,  on  Monday,  the  i!7th  day  of  December  next,  and 
on  the  two  succeeding  days  :  and  all  persons  voting  are  requested  to 
deposit  in  the  ballot-boxes  printed  or  written  tickets  in  the  following 
form:    I  am  an  American  citizen,  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and 
have  my  permanent  residence  or  home  in  this  state.     I  am  (or  not) 
qualified  to  vote  under  the  existing  laws  of  this  state.     I  vrte  for  (or 
against)  the  constitution  formed  by  the  convention  of  the  people, 
assembled  at  Providence,  and  which  was  proposed  to  the  people  by 
said  convention,  on  the  18th  day  of  November,  1841. 

2.  Every  voter  is  requested  to  write  his  name  on  the  face  of    his 
ticket;  and  every  person  entitled  to  vote  as  aforesaid,  who  frcm  sick- 
ness or  other  causes  may  be  unable  to  attend  and  vote  in  the  town  or 
ward  meetings,  assembled  for  voting  upon  said  constitution  on  the 
days  aforesaid,  is  requested  to  write  his  name  upon  a  ticket,  and  to 
obtain  the  signature  upon  the  back  of  the  same  of  a  person  who  has 
given  his  vote  as  a  witness  thereto.      And  the  moderator  or  clerk  of 
any  town  or  ward  meeting  convened  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  shall 
receive  such  vote  on  either  of   the  three  days  next  succeeding  the 
three  days  before  named  for  voting  on  said  constitution. 

3.  The  citizens  of   the  several  towns  in  this  state,   and  of    the 
several  wards  in  the  city  of  Providence,  are  requested  to  hold  town 
and  ward  meetings  on  the  days  appointed  and  for  the  purpose  afore- 
said: and  also  to  choose  in  each  town  and  ward  a  moderator  and  clerk 
to  conduct  said  meetings  and  receive  the  votes. 

4.  The  moderators  and  clerks  are  required  to  receive  and  carefully 
to  keep  the  votes  of  all  persons  qualified  to  vote  as  aforesaid,  and  to 
make  registers  of  all   the  persons  voting:  which,  together  willi  the 
tickets  given  in  by  the  voters  shall  be  sealed  up  and  returned  by  said 


APPENDIX.  331 

moderators  and  clerks,  with  certificates  signed  and  sealed  by  them,  to 
the  clerks  of  the  convention  of  the  people,  to  be  by  them  safely  de- 
posited and  kept,  and  laid  before  said  convention  to  be  counted  and 
declared  at  their  next  adjourned  meeting  on  the  12th  day  of  January, 
1842. 

5.  This  constitution,  except  so  much  thereof  as  relates  to  the  elec- 
tion of  the  officers  named  in  the  sixth  section  of  this  article,  shall,  if 
adopted,  go  into  operation  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  May,  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-two. 

6.  So  much  of  the  constitution  as  relates  to  the  election  of  officers 
named  in  this  section,  shall  go  into  operation  on  the  Monday  before  the 
third  Wednesday  of  April  next  preceding.    The  first  election  under 
this  constitution  of  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  secretary  of  state, 
general  treasurer  and  attorney-general,  of  senators  and  representatives, 
of  sheriffs  for  the  several  counties,  and  of  justices  of    the  peace  for 
the  several  towns  and  the  wards  of  the  city  of  Providence,  shall  take 
place  on  the  Monday  aforesaid 

7.  The  electors  of  the  several  towns  and  wards  are  authorized  to  as- 
semble on  the  day  aforesaid,  without  being  notified  as  is  provided  in  sec- 
tion ninth  of  Article  X. ,  and  without  the  registration  required  in  section 
seventh  of  Article  II.,  and  to  choose  moderators  and  clerks,  and  pro- 
ceed in  the  election  of  the  officers  named  in  the  preceding  section. 

8.  The  votes  given  in  at  the  first  election  for  representatives  to  the 
General  Assembly  arid  for  justices  of  the  peace,  shall  be  counted  by 
the  moderators  and  clerks  of  the  towns  and  wards  chosen  as  afore- 
said; and  certificates  of  election  shall  be  furnished  by  them  to  the 
representatives  and  justices  of  the  peace  elected. 

9.  Said  moderators  and  clerks  shall  seal  up,  certify,  and  transmit 
to  the  house  of  representatives  all  the  votes  that  may  be  given  in  at 
said  first  election  for  governor  and  state  officers,  and  for  senators  and 
sheriffs;  and  the  votes  shall  be  counted  as  the  house  of  representatives 
may  direct. 

10.  The  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives  shall,  at  the  first 
session  of  the  same,  qualify  himself  to  administer  the  oath  of  office  to 
the  members  of  the  house  and  to  other  officers,  by  taking  and  subscrib- 
ing the  same  oath  in  presence  of  the  house. 

11.  The  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  held  in  the 
city  of  Providence,  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  May,  in  the  year  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  forty-two,  with  such  adjournments  as  may  be 
necessary;  but  all  other  sessions  shall  be  held  as  is  provided  in  Article 
IV.  of  this  Constitution. 

12.  If  any  of  the  representatives  whom  the  towns  or  districts  are 
entitled  to  choose,  at  the  first  annual  election  aforesaid,  shall  not  be 
then  elected,  or  if  their  places  shall  become  vacant  during  the  year, 
the  same  proceedings  may  be  had  to  complete  the  election,  or  to  sup- 
ply vacancies  as  are  directed  concerning  elections  in  the  preceding 
sections  of  this  article. 

13.  If  there  shall  be  no  election  of  governor  or  lieutenant-governor, 
or  of  both   of  these  officers,  or  of  a  senator  or  senators  at  the  first 
annual  election,  the  house  of  representatives  and  as  many  senators 
as  are  chosen,  shall  forthwith  elect,  in  joint  committee,  a  governor 
or  lieutenant-governor,   or  both,   or  a  senator  or  senators,   to  hold  • 
their  offices  for  the  remainder  of  the  political  year,  and,  in  the  case 
of  the  two  officers  first  named,  until  their  successors  shall  be  duly 
qualified. 

14.  If  the  number  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  determined  by  the 
several  towns  and  wards  on  the  day  of  the  first  annual  election    shall 
not  be  then  chosen,  or  if  vacancies  shall  occur,  the  same  proceedings 
shall  be  had  as  are  provided  for  in  this  article  in  the  case  of  a  non- 
election  of  representatives  and  senators,  or  of  vacancies  in  their  offices. 


332  HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

The  justices  of  the  peace  thus  elected  shall  hold  office  for  the  remain- 
der of  the  political  year,  or  until  the  second  annual  election  of  justices 
of  the  peace  to  be  held  on  such  day  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

.  15.  The  justices  of  the  peace  elected  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions 
of  this  article  may  be  engaged  by  the  persons  acting  as  moderators  of 
the  town  and  ward  meetings  as  herein  provided;  and  said  justices 
after  obtaining  their  certificates  of  election,  may  discharge  the  duties 
of  their  office  for  a  time  not  exceeding  twenty  days,  without  a  com- 
mission from  the  governor. 

Iti.  Nothing  contained  in  this  article,  inconsistent  with  any  of  the 
provisions  of  other  articles  of  the  constitution  shall  continue  in  force 
for  a  longer  period  than  the  first  political  year  under  the  same. 

17.  The  present  government  shall  exercise  all  the  powers  with 
which  it  is  now  clothed,  until  the  said  first  Tuesday  in  May,  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  forty-two,  and  until  their  successors  under  this 
constitution  shall  be  duly  elected  and  qualified. 

18.  All  civil,  judicial  and  military  officers  now  elected,  or  who  shall 
hereafter  be  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  or  other  competent 
authority,  before  the  said  first  Tuesday  of  May,  shall  hold  their  offices 
and  may  exercise  their  powers  until  that  time. 

19.  All  laws  and  statutes,  public  and  private,  now  in  force  and  not 
repugnant  to  this  constitution,  shall  continue  in  force  until  they  ex- 
pire by  their  own  limitation,  or  are  repealed  by  the  General  Assembly. 
All  contracts,  judgments,  actions,  and  rights  of  action,  shall  be  as 
valid  as  if  this  constitution  had  not  been  made.    'All  debts  contracted, 
and  engagements  entered  into  before  the  adoption  of  this  constitution, 
shall  be  as  valid  against  the  state  as  if  this  constitution  had  not  been 
made. 

20.  The  supreme  court  established  by  this  constitution  shall  have 
the  same  jurisdiction  as  the  supreme  judicial  court  at  present  estab- 
lished ;  and  shall  have  jurisdiction  of  all  causes  which  may  be  appealed 
to  or  pending  in  the  same;  and  shall  be  held  in  the  same  times  and 
places  in  each  county  as  the  present  supreme  judicial  court  until  the 
General  Assembly  shall  otherwise  prescribe. 

21.  The  citizens  of  the  town  of  New  Shoreham  shall  be  hereafter 
exempted  from  military  duty  and  the  duty  of  serving  as  jurors  in  the 
courts  of  this  state.    The  citizens  of  the  town  of  Jamestown  shall  be 
forever  hereafter  exempted  from  military  field  duty. 

~2'2.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  at  their  first  session  after  the 
adoption  of  this  constitution,  propose  to  the  electors  the  question, 
whether  the  word  "  white,"  in  the  first  line  of  the  first  section  of  Ar- 
ticle II.  of  the  constitution  shall  be  stricken  out.  The  question  shall 
be  voted  upon  at  the  succeeding  annual  election;  and  if  a  majority  of 
the  electors  voting  shall  vote  to  strike  out  the  word  aforesaid,  it  shall 
be  stricken  from  the  constitution :  otherwise  not.  If  the  word  afore- 
said shall  be  stricken  out,  section  third  of  Article  II.  shall  cease  to  be 
a  part  of  the  constitution. 

2:>.  The  president,  vice-president  and  secretaries  shall  certify  and 
sign  this  constitution,  and  cause  the  same  to  be  published. 

Done  in  convention  at  Providence,  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  No- 
vember, in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-one,  and  of 
American  Independence  the  sixty-sixth. 

JOSEPH  JOSLIN,  J>i;-xi<l<'i,t  of  (he  (Jonvcnii,,,, . 

WAGBB   WKKDEN,        |  ,-       „,.„,,;,,,.,.„ 
SAMUEL  H.  WALES,    f  ' 
Attest  : 

WILLIAM  H.  SMITH.  ) 
JOHN  S.  HARRIS         \ 


THE  coat  of  arms  of  the  State  is  "familiar  to  every  citizen,  for  it  is  im- 
pressed 011  public  documents  and  meets  the  eye  on  monuments  and  in 
newspapers.  Its  simplicity  and  its  significance,  as  well  as  its  correct 
heraldry  render  it  superior  to  that  of  any  of  the  other  states ;  and  the 
words  by  which  it  is  described  in  our  statute  book,  have  a  singular 
force  and  beauty.  "  There  shall  continue  to  be  one  seal  for  the  public 
use  of  the  State;  the  form  of  an  anchor  shall  be  engraven  thereon,  and 
the  motto  thereof  shall  be  the  word  HOPE." 

This  has  been  the  seal  of  the  State  ever  since  the  adoption  of  the 
charter,  in  May,  KJlJi.  Previous  to  that  time  the  seal  consisted  of  an 
anchor  only,  on  a  shield,  without  the  motto  "  Hope."  At  the  first 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  under  the  "parliamentary  patent," 
in  IG-iT,  it  was  "ordered  that  the  seal  of  the  province  shall  be  ah  anchor," 
and  on  the  margin  of  the  original  manuscript,  now  preserved  in  the 
office  of  the  secretary  of  state,  is  simply  an  anchor  upon  a  shield, 
drawn  by  the  peri  of  the  writer. 

But  this  was  not  the  first  seal  the  State  may  claim  to  have  possessed. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Newport  Colony  at  Portsmouth,  in  1(541,  six  years 
before  the  establishment  of  the  anchor  as  the  seal,  it  was  "ordered, 
that  a  manual  scale  shall  be  provided  for  the  State,  and  that  the  signett 
or  engraving  thereof,  shall  be  a  sheaf  of  arrows  bound  up,  and  on  the 
liass  or  band,  this  motto:  Amor  omnia  vincit." 

The  seal  of  the  anchor  with  the  motto  "  Hope,"  was  surrounded  by 
a  circle,  in  which  was  inscribed  the  words  COLONIE  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 
AND  PROVIDENCE  PLANTATIONS,  and  several  impressions  of  it  may  be 
found  among  the  old  records  of  the  State.  This  seal  Andros  broke,  at 
the  time  of  his  usurpation  in  1(586-7.  But  after  his  expulsion,  and  on 
the  reorganization  of  the  General  Assembly,  1(>8!)-90,  a  new  seal  was 
ordered,  precisely  like  the  old  seal,  except  that  the  words  "  Colonie 
of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations"  were  omitted;  nor  did 
these  words  ever  again  form  a  part  of  the  seal  until  this  year,  (1875), 
when  they  were  restored  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  Janu- 
ary last,  and  the  date  163(>  added.  Of  course  the  word  "  Colonie  "  was 
altered  to  the  word  "  State." 

No  impression  of  the  Newport  seal— the  sheaf  of  arrows;  nor  of  the 
seal  under  the  parliamentary  patent — the  anchor  alone — exists  among 
the  archives  of  the  State.  Perhaps  some  of  the  antiquarian  readers  of 
the  Joiirnii!  may  know  where  such  impressions  maybe  found.  And 
perhaps  also  some  one  may  know  why  the  anchor  originally  came  to 
be  chosen  as  the  device  of  the  seal.  Was  this  the  "bearing"  of  the 
shield  of  the  family  of  Roger  Williams,  or  of  any  of  the  families  who 
accompanied  him  ?  Did  the  idea  arise  from  the  depressing  circum- 
stances of  the  time  ?  If  so,  why  was  the  word  HOPE  not  added  until 
seventeen  years  afterwards,  and  in  comparatively  prosperous  times  ? 
Was  there  any  reason  why  the  legend  "  Colonie  of  Rhode  Island  and 
Providence  Plantations  " 'was  omitted  after  the  expulsion  of  Andros? 
Whence  came  the  cable  now  surrounding  the  shank,  and  thus  con- 
verting the  anchor  into  a  "  foul  anchor  "  ?  And  whence  the  rock  and 
the  waves,  with  light-house  and  ship  in  the  distance,  as  is  now  fre- 
quently seen  ?  And  how  came  the  shield  altered  into  unmeaning 
scroll-work  ?  Is  there  any  more  authority  for  these  changes  than  the 
ill-informed  fancy  of  the  seal-engravers  from  time  to  time  ? 

NOTE.— For  this  excellent  dissertation  on  the  seal  of  Rhode  Island,  I  am  indebted  to 
my  friend,  the  Hon.  T.  P.  Shepanl. 


©oucrnoro  of  RljoDe 


The  State  originally  consisted  of  four  towns:  Providence,  settled  in  1636; 
Portsmouth,  in  1638 ;  Newport,  in  1639 ;  and  Warwick,  in  1642.  Each  town  waa 
governed  independently  until  1647.  Providence  and  Warwick  had  no  executive 
head  till  1647. 

PORTSMOUTH. 

JUDGES. 

William  Coddington,    ....  March  7.  1638  to  April  30.  1639. 

William  Hutchiason,          ....       April  30,  1639  to  March  1-',  1640. 

NEWPORT. 
JUDOS. 

William  Coddington.    ....  April  28,  1639  to  March  12,  1640. 

PORTSMOUTH  AND  NEWPORT.* 
GOYEBXOB. 

William  Coddington,       ....         March  12,  1640  to  May  19,  1647. 
Iii  1647  the  four  towns,  were  united  under  a  charter  or  patent,  granted  in  1643,  by 
Parliament. 

PRESIDENTS  UNDER  THE  PATENT. 

John  CoggeshalU        ......     May,  1647  to  May,  1648. 

William  Coddington,      .....  May,  1648  to  May,  1649. 

John  Smith,     .......    May,  1649  to  May,  1650. 

Nicholas  Easton,  .....  May,  1650  to  Aug.  ,1651. 

In  1651  a  separation  occurred  between  the  towns  of  Providence  and  Warwick  on 
the  one  side,  and  Portsmouth  and  Newport  on  the  other. 

PROVIDENCE  AND  WARWICK. 
FBESIDESTS. 

Samuel  Gorton, Oct.,  1651  to  May,  1652. 

John  Smith,  ......        May,  1652  to  Mar,  1653. 

Gregory  Dexter,  .....  May,  1653  to  May,  1654. 

PORTSMOUTH  AND  NEWPORT. 

PRESIDENT. 

John  Sandford,  Senior. May,  1653  to  May,  1654. 

In  1654  the  union  of  the  four  towns  was  reestablished. 

*  United  in  1640. 


APPENDIX.  335 


PRESIDENTS. 

Nicholas  Easton,          .  .  .  May,  1(554  to  Sept.  12.  1654. 

Roger  Williams,     .  ...  Sept.,  16o4  to  May.  1657. 

Benedict  Arnold,  .  '.  .  May,  1657  to  May.  1660. 

William  Brenton,  .....  May,  16GO  to  May,  1662. 

Benedict  Arnold,          .....  May,  1662  to  Nov.  25,  1663. 

ROYAL  CHARTER, 

GOVERNORS. 

Benedict  Arnold,     ......        Nov.,  1663  to  May,  16C6. 

William  Brenton,          .....  May,  1666  to  May,  1669. 

Bent-diet  Arnold,     ......        May,  1669  to  May,  1672. 

Nicholas  Kaston,          .....  May,  1672  to  May,'  1674. 

William  Coddington,  .....        May,  1674  to  May,  1676. 

Walter  Clarke,  .....  May,  1676  to  May,  1677. 

Benedict  Arnold,    .....  1677  to  June  20,  1678.     Died. 

William  Coddington    .  .  .  .      Aug.  28.  1G78  to  Nov.  1,  1678.     Died. 

John  Cranston,       ....  Nov.,  1678  to  March  12,  1680.     Died. 

Peles  Sandford,          .....        March  16.  1680  to  May,  1683. 

William  Coddington,  Jr..  .  .  .  .         May,  1683  to  May,  1G85. 

Henry  Bull, May,  1685  to  May,  1686. 

Walter  Clarke,*  .....     May,  1686  to  June  29,  1686. 

Henry  Bull,  .  .  .  .  .  .      Feb.  27,  to  May  7,  1690. 

John  Easton,  .  .  .  .  .          May,  1690  to  May,  1695. 

Caleb  Carr,     .....  May,  1C95  to  Dec.  17,  1G95.     Died. 

Walter  Clarke,     ......        Jan.,  1696  to  March,  1G98. 

Samuel  Cranston,     .  .  >  ':•.,  1698  to  April  26,  1727.     Died. 

Joseph  Jenckes,  .  .  May,  1727  to  May,  1732. 

William  Wanton,     .....      May,  1732  to  Dec.,  1733.     Died. 

John  Wanton,    ...  .          May,  1734  to  July  5,  1740.     Died. 

Richard  Ward,        .....  .  July  15,  1740  to  May,  1743. 

William  Greene,  .....  .  May,  1743  to  May,  1745. 

Gideon  Wanton,      ....  .         May,  1745  to  May,  1746. 

William  Greene,  ......  May,  1746  to  May,  1747. 

Gideon  Wanton,      ......         May,  1747  to  May,  1748. 

William  Greene,  ......  May,  1748  to  May,  1755. 

Stephen  Hopkins,  .....         May.  1755  to  May,  1757. 

William  Greene,  ....  May,  1757  to  Feb.  22,  1758.    Died. 

Stephen  Hopkins,  .  .  .  March  14,  1758  to  May,  1762. 

Samuel  Ward,  ......     May,  1762  to  May,  1763. 

Stephen  Hopkins,  ,  Miy,  176.'!  to  May,  1765. 

Samuel  Ward,  ......     May,  1765  to  May,  1767. 

Stephen  Hopkins,  .....  May,  1767  to  May,  1768. 

Joi-i  is  Lyndon,  ....  .     May,  1708  to  May,  1769. 

Joseph  Wanton,    .....          1769  to  Nov.  7,  1775.     Deposed. 

Nicholas  Cooke,          .'....    Nov.,  1775  to  May,  1778. 


*  The  charter  was  guspended  till  1689.    The  Deputy-Governor,  John  Coggeshall,  acted 
»s  Governor  during  the  interval,  Governor  Clarke  refusing:  to  serve. 


336  HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

William  Greene,  ......          May,  1778  to  1786. 

John  Collins,  .......    May.  1786  to  1790. 

Arthur  Feuner,*  ......        1790  to  1805.     Died. 

James  Fenner.          .......      May,  1807  to  1811. 

William  Jones,  .  .  .  .  .  .  May,  1811  to  1817. 

Neheraiah  R.  Knight.t        .....     May.  1817  to  Jan.  9,  1821. 

William  C.  Gibbs,          ......  May,  1821  to  1824. 

James  Fenner,        .......      May,  1824  to  1831. 

I^muel  H.  Arnold,      .......  1831  to  1813. 

John  Brown  Francis,        .......       1833  to  1838. 

William  Sprague.J      .......  1838  to  1839. 

Samuel  Ward  King,         .  .  ,  -         .  .  .  .       1840  to  1843. 

TINDER  THE  CONSTITUTION. 
(Adopted  in  1842.) 

James  Fenner,            .......  1843  to  1845. 

Charles  Jackson,              .......  1845  to  1846. 

Byron  Diman,             .......  1846  to  1847. 

Elisha  Harris,       ........  1847  to  1849. 

Henry  B.  Anthony,     .......  1849  to  1851. 

Philip  Allen,§        .            .            .            .            .            .            .            .  1851  to  1853. 

William  Warner  Hoppin,        .            .            .            .            .            .  1>:,4 

Elisha  Dyer,          .            .            .            .            .            ...            .  1857  to  1859. 

Thomas  G.  Turner,     .......  >  1860. 

William  Sprague,  ....        1860  to  March  3.  1863.     Resigned. 

William  C.  Cozz«-ns,ll  ....  March  3,  1SG3  to  May,  1863. 

James  Y.  Smith,               .......  1863  to  1866. 

Ambrose  E.  Burnside.            ......  1866  to  1869. 

Seth  Padelford,                 .......  1869  to  1873. 

Henry  Howard,            .......  1873  to  1875. 

Henry  Lippitt,     ........       1875  to    

*  Paul  Mumford,  Deputy-Governor,  died.  Henry  Smith,  First  Senator,  officiated  as 
Governor.  In  1806,  no  election  ;  Isaac  Wilbour,  Lieutenant-Governor,  officiated. 

+  Elected  United  States  Senator  January  9, 1821,  for  unexpired  term  of  James  Burrill, 
Jr.,  deceased. 

J  In  1839  no  choice ;  Samuel  Ward  King  was  First  Senator  and  Acting-Governor. 

§  Resigned  July  20, 1853,  having  been  elected  United  States  Senator  May  4. 1853.  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, F.  M.  Dimond,  officiated. 

I  Governor  Sprague  resigned  March  3. 1863,  and  Lieutenant-Governor  Arnold  having 
been  elected  to  the  Senate  Mr.  Cozzens  became  Governor  by  virtue  of  his  office  as 
President  of  the  Senate. 


William  Brenton, 


March  12,  1640  to  May  19,  1647. 


From  1647  to  1663  the  Colony  was  governed  by  a  president,  with  four  assist- 
ant*. 


William  Brenton, 

.       1C63  to  1666. 

Nicholas  Easton, 

1666  to  1669. 

John  Clarke, 

.      1669  to  1670. 

1670  to  1671. 

John  Clarke, 

.      1671  to  1672. 

John  Cranston, 

1672  to  1673. 

William  Coddiugton, 

,            .            .      1673  to  1674. 

John  Easton, 

1674  to  1676. 

John  Cranston, 

1676  to  1678. 

James  Barker. 

1678  to  1679. 

Walter  Clarke, 

.       1679  to  1686. 

/ 

(Charter  suspended,  1686  to  1690.) 

John  Coggeshall, 

1690. 

John  Greene, 

1690  to  1700. 

Walter  Clarke,      . 

.       1700  to  1714.     Died. 

Henry  Tew, 

1714  to  1715. 

Joseph  Jencks, 

.      1715  to  1721. 

John  Wanton, 

.  *         .            .            .            .            .            1721  to  1722. 

Joseph  Jencks, 

.       1722  to  1727. 

Jonathan  Nicholls, 

May  to  August,  1727.     Died. 

Thomas  Frye, 

1727  to  1729. 

John  Wanton, 

1729  to  1734. 

George  Hassan!, 

.     1734  to  1738.     Died. 

Daniel  Abbott, 

1738  to  1740. 

Richard  Ward, 

May  to  July,  1740. 

William  Greene, 

.            .            .            .            .            1740  to  1743. 

Joseph  Whipple, 

1743  to  1745. 

William  Robinson, 

1745  to  1746. 

Joseph  Whipple, 

.      1746  to  1747. 

William  Robinson, 

1747  to  1748. 

William  Ellery,     . 

1748  to  1750. 

Robert  Haszard, 

1750  to  1751. 

Joseph  Whipple,   . 

.       1751  to  1753. 

Jonathan  Nichols, 

1753  to  1754. 

John  Gardner, 

.       1754  to  1755. 

Jonathan  Nichols, 

1755  to  1756. 

John  Gardner, 

.       1756  to  1764. 

Joseph  Wanton,  Jr., 

1764  to  1765. 

Elisha  Brown, 

.            .            .            .            .       1765  to  1767. 

Joseph  \Vantou,  Jr., 

1767  to  1768. 

Nicholas  Cooke,     . 

.       1768  to  1769. 

1769  to  1775. 

Nicholas  Cooke, 

.             .            .            ...           May  to  November,  1775. 

William  Bradford, 

1775  to  1778. 

22 

338 


HISTORY   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 


Jabez  Bowen, 
William  West, 
Jabez  Bowen, 
Daniel  Owen, 
Samuel  J.  Potter, 


1778  to  1780. 

1780  to  1781 . 

1781  to  1786. 
1786  to  1790. 
1790  to  1799. 


The  title  was  now  changed  to  lieutenant-governor. 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS. 


Samuel  J.  Potter, 
George  Brown, 
Samuel  J.  Potter, 
Paul  Mumford, 
Isaac  Wilbour, 
Constant  Taber,    . 
Simeon  Martin, 
Isaac  Wilbour, 
Simeon  Martin, 
Jeremiah  Thurston, 
Edward  Wilcox, 
Caleb  Earle, 
Charles  Collins, 
Jeffrey  Hazard.     . 
George  Engs, 
Jeffrey  Hazard,    . 
Benjamin  B.  Thurston, 
Joseph  Childs, 
Byron  Diman, 
Nathaniel  Bullock, 
Byron  Diman, 
Elisha  Harris,*      . 
Edward  W.  Law-ton, 
Thomas  Whipple, 
William  Beach  Lawrence, 
Samuel  G.  Arnold, 
Francis  M.  Dimond,    . 
John  J.  Reynolds, 
Anderson  C.  Rose,      . 
Nicholas  Brown, 
Thomas  G.  Turner,     . 
Isaac  Saunders,     . 
J.  Russell  Bullock,     . 
Samuel  G.  Arnold. 
Seth  Padelford, 
Duncan  C.  Pell, 
Wfllia-n  Greene, 
Pardon  W.  Stevens, 
Charles  R.  Cutler, 
Charles  C.  Van  Zandt,* 
Henrr  T.  Sisson,* 


Feb.,  1799  to  May.  1799. 
,  .  1799  to  1800. 

1800  to  1803. 
.  1803  to  1806. 

1806  to  1807. 
.  1807  to  1808. 

1808  to  1810. 
.  1810  to  1811. 

1811  to  1816. 
.  1816  to  1817. 

1817  to  1821. 
.  1821  to  1824. 

1824  to  1833. 
.  1833  to  1835. 

1835  to  1836. 
.  1836tolS37. 

Is37  to  183S. 
.  1838  to  1840. 

1840  to  1842. 
.  1842  to  1843. 

1843  to  1846. 

1847  to  1849. 

.       1849  to  1851. 

1851  to  1852. 

.      1852  to  1853. 

1853  to  1854. 

,  .      1854  to  1855. 

-o  1856. 

1856  t 

1857  to  1859. 
.      1859  to  1860. 

1860  to  1861. 
,  1861  to  1863. 

1863  to  1865. 
.  1865  to  1866. 

IvV  to  !v>. 
.  1868  to  1872. 

1872  to  1873. 

.       1873  to  1875- 

-o 


*  Elected  by  the  Assembly  :  no  choice  by  the  people. 


MEMBERS 


Continental 

FROM  RHODE  ISLAND. 


Jonathan  Arnold,     . 
Peleg  Arnold, 
John  Collins,  . 

Ezekiel  Cornell, 
William  Ellery.        . 
Jonathan  J.  Hazard. 
Stephen  Hopkins,    . 
David  Howell, 
James  Manning,        . 
Henry  Marchant, 
Nathan  Miller,          . 
Daniel  Mowry, 
James  M,  Varnum,  . 
Samuel  Ward, 
John  Gardner,          . 
William  Bradford,* 
John  Brown,*          . 
George  Champlin,* 
Paul  Mumford,*       . 
Peter  Phillips,* 
Sylvester  Gardner,* 
Thomas  Holden,* 


.          1782  to  1783. 

1787  to  1789. 
.  1778  to  1782. 

1780  to  1782. 
.  1776  to  1784. 

1787  to  1789. 
.          1774  to  1779. 

1782  to  1784. 
.          Feb.,  1786. 
Feb.,  1777  to  1784. 
.         Feb.,  1786. 

1780  to  1781. 

.         1780,  '81,  '86. 

1774  to  1775. 

.          1788  to  1789. 

Oct.,  1776. 

1785. 

1785  to  1786. 

1785. 

1785. 

.  1787. 

1788  to  1789. 


Duly  elei-teJ,  bat  their  names  are  not  in  the  Journals  of  Congress. 


n 


DATE  OF  INCORPORATION,  ETC. 


COUNTIES  AND     ;          DATE  OF 
TOWNS.  !    INCORPORATION. 


FROM  WHAT  TAKEN,  ORIGINAL 
NAMES,  CHANGES  OF  BOUNDARIES,  &c. 


BRISTOL  Co Feb'y  17,  1746-47.. 


Barrington June  16,  1770 

Bristol Jan'y  27,  1746-47  . 


Warren Jau'y  27,  1746-47.. 


KENT  Co June  15,  1750 

I 

Coventry.. ;  August  21,  1741.  , 

East  Greenwich October  31.  1677  . 


West  Greenwich April  6,  1741 


Incorporated  with  same  county  limits 
as  at  present.  Originally  the  county 
consisted  of  two  towns,  Bristol  anrt 
Warren.  Afterwards,  June,  1770,  War- 
ren was  divided,  and  the-  Town  of 
Barrington  was  incorporated. 

Taken  from  Warren,  which  see. 

Five  towns  received  from  Massachusetts 
this  date.  A  portion  of  Bristol  an- 
nexed to  Warren,  May  30,  1873. 

See  Bristol.  The  territory  of  the  Town 
of  Warren,  when  admitted  to  the  State, 
included  the  Town  of  Barrington.  and 
a  portion  of  the  towns  of  Swanzey  and 
Rehoboth,  in  Massachusetts.  In  1770 
Warren  was  divided,  and  one  of  the 
original  names  (Barrington)  was  given 
to  the  new  town. 


Taken  from  Providence  County.  In- 
corporated with  the  same  county  limits 
as  at  piesent,  and  fame  towns. 

Taken  from  Warwick. 

Incorporated  as  the  Town  of  East  Green- 
wich. Name  changed  to  Dedford, 
June  23,  1686.  The  original  name 
restored  in  1689.  Th«  town  divided 
In  1741. 

Taken  from  East  Greenwich,  whidh  see.* 


APPENDIX. 


341 


COUNTIES  AND 
TOWNS. 

DATE  OF 

INCORPORATION. 

FROM  WHAT  TAKEN,  ORIGINAL 
NAMES,  CHANGES  OF  BOUNDARIES,  Ac. 

Firat  settled  Janv^ry   1642-43      Named 

from  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  signed  the 
Patent  of  Providence  Plantations, 
March  14,  1643.  The  first  action  of 
the  inhabitants  as  a  town  was  August 
8,  1647.  Indian  name,  Shawomet. 

NEWPORT  Co  

June  22,  1703  

Originally  incorporated  as  Rhode  Island 
County,  June  16,  1729,  incorporated  as 
Newport  County,  and  included  New- 
port. Portsmouth,  Jamestown  and 
New  Shoreham. 

Fall  River  

October  6,  1856  

Taken  from  Tiverton.  Ceded  to  Massa- 
chusetts in  the  settlement  of  the  boun- 
dary question.  March  1,  1862.  See 
Pawtucket  and  East  Providence. 

Jamestown  

November  4,  1678.  .  . 

Named  in  honor  of  King  James.  Indian 
name  Quononoqutt  (Conanicut). 

Little  Compton  

Jan'y27,  1746-47..  . 
June  16   1743  

One  of  the  five  towns  received  from 
Massachusetts.  Annexed  to  Newport 
County  February  17,  1746-47.  Indian 
name,  Seaconnet. 

Town  in  the   "middle"    of  the  island. 

Taken  from  Newport. 

Newport  

Original  town  

Settled  in  1639.  Line  between  Newport 
and  Portsmouth  established  Septem- 
ber 14,  1640.  Incorporated  as  a  city 
June  1,  1784.  City  charter  given  up 
March  27,  1787.  City  incorporated  the 
second  time  at  the  May  session.  1853, 
and  the  charter  accepted  May  20,  1853. 

New  Shoreham  

November  6,  1672.  .  . 

Admitted  to  Colony  as  Block  Island, 
May  4,  1664.  Wh«n  incorporated  in 
1672,  name  changed  to  New  Shoreham 
"assignes  of  our  unity  and  likeness 
to  many  parts  of  our  native  country." 
Indian  name  Mannasses  or  Manisses. 

Settled  in  1638.     Indian  name  Pocasset. 

"At  a  quarter  meeting  of  the  first  of 
ye  5th  month  1639.  it  is  agreed  upon 
to  call  this  town  Portsmouth."  At  the 
"  Generall  Courte  "  at  "Nieuport" 
12th  of  1st  month.  1640,  the  name  of 
Portsmouth  was  confirmed. 

Tiverton  

Jan'y  27.  1746-47.  .. 

One  of  the  five  towns  received  this  date 
from  Massachusetts.  See  Bristol, 
Warren,  &c.  Indian  name  Pocasset. 
Annexed  to  Newport  County,  February 
17,  1746-47. 

342 


HISTORY   OP   RHODE   ISLAND. 


COUNTIES  AND 
TOWNS. 

DATE  OF 
INCORPORATION. 

FROM  WHAT  TAKEN,  ORIGINAL 
NAMES,  CHANGES  OF  BOUNDARIES,  Ac. 

I'KOTIDENCE  Co..  .  < 
Burrillville  .... 

June  22,  1703  

October  29,  1806 
JuneH,  1754  

Jan'y  27,  1746-47  .  .  . 
March  1,  1862  

August  24,  1781  .... 
Feb'y20,  1730-31... 

March  6,  1759  

March  8,  1871  

Originally  incorporated  as  the  County  of 
Providence  Plantations,  and  included 
the  present  territory  of  Providence, 
Kent  and  Washington  counties,  ex- 
cepting the  present  towns  of  Cumber- 
land, Pawtucket  and  East  Providence. 
The  name  was  changed  to  Providence 
County  June  16,  1729.  See  Kent  and 
Washington  counties. 

Taken  from  Glocester.  The  town  wa§ 
first  authorized  to  meet  to  elect  offi- 
cers, Nov.  17,  1806.  Named  from 
Hon.  James  Burrill. 

Taken  from  Providence.  Probably  named 
from  Samuel  Cranston,  who  was  Gov- 
ernor of  Rhode  Island  from  March, 
1698,  to  April  26,  1727,  when  he  died. 
A  portion  re-united  to  Providence, 
June  10,  1868,  and  March  28,  1873. 

One  of  the  five  towns  received  this 
date  See  Tiverton,  Bristol,  &c. 
Until  incorporated  in  Rhode  Island  it 
was  known  as  Attleboro  Gore.  Named 
from  Cumberland,  England.  Annexed 
to  Providence  County,  February  17, 
1746-47.  A  portion  of  Cumberland 
was  incorporated  as  the  Town  of  Woon- 
socket,  January  31,  1867. 

The  westerly  part  of  Kehoboth,  Massa- 
chusetts, was  incorporated  as  See- 
konk,  February  26,  1812.  The  west- 
erly part  of  Seekonk  was  annexed  to 
Rhode  Island,  incorporated  as  a  town, 
and  named  East  Providence  in  the 
settlement  of  the  boundary  question 
in  1862.  See  Pawtucket  and  Fall 
River. 

Taken  from  gcituate.  Named  probably 
from  Hon.  Theodore  Foster. 

Taken  from  Providence.  At  this  date 
an  act  was  passed  "  for  erecting  and 
incorporating  the  outlands  of  the  Town 
of  Providence  into  three  towns." 
These  towns  were  Scituate,  Glocester 
and  Smithfield. 

Caken  from  Providence,  and  named  in 
honor  of  Augustus  Johnston,  Esq., 
the  attorney-general  of  the  Colony  at 
that  time. 

Taken  from  Smithfield,  and  named  in 
honor  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  late  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

Cranston  
Cumberland  

iMt  Providence  

Foster  
Glocester  

Johnston  

APPENDIX. 


343 


COUNTIES  AND 
TOWNS. 


Worth  Providence.  . 


DATE  OF 
INCORPORATION. 

June  13,  1765." 


FROM  WHAT  TAKEN,  ORIGINAL 
NAMES,  CHANGES  or  BOUNDARIES,  &c. 


North  Smithfteld March  8,  1871 


Pawtucket March  1,  1862 


Providence Original  town 


Scituate . . . 
Smithfield . 


Woonsocket 


WASHINGTON  Co. 


Charlestown . 
Exeter 


Feb'y20,  1730-31.. 
Feb'y20,  1730-31. 


Jan'y  31,  1867  . . . 


Taken  from  Providence.  A  small  por- 
tion reunited  to  Providence  June  29; 
1767,  and  March  28,  1873.  The  town 
was  divided  March  27,  1874,  a  portion 
was  annexed  to  the  City  of  Providence 
and  a  portion  to  the  Town  of  Paw  tucket. 
The  act  went  into  effect  May  1,  1874. 

Taken  from  Smithfield,  and  incorpor- 
ated as  the  Town  of  Slater.  Name 
changed  to  North  Smithfield,  March 
24,  1871. 

Name  of  Indian  origin.  Part  of  Seekonk, 
Mass.,  WP.S  incorporated  as  the  Town  of 
Pawtucket.  March  1.  1828.  The  whole 
Town  of  Pawtucket  except  a  small 
portion  lying  easterly  of  Seven  Mile 
River  was  annexed  to  Rhode  Island, 
with  East  Providence,  which  see.  A 
portion  of  the  Town  of  North  Provi- 

;  dence  annexed  to  Pawtucket,  May  1, 
1874. 

Settled  in  1636.     Named  Providence  by 
Roger  Williams,  '•  in  gratitude  to   his 
supreme  deliverer."     Originally  com- 
prised the  whole  county.      City  incor- 
;     porated  in  1832.    Portions  of  the  Town 
i     of  Cranston  were  re-annexed  to  Prov- 
!     idence  June  10, 1768.  and  March  28, 
1873.     Portions  of   North   Providence 
were  re-annexed  June  29,  1767,  March 
28,  1873,  and  May  1,  1874. 

Taken  from  Providence.      See  Glocester 

Taken  from  Providence.  See  Glocester. 
The  town  was  divided  March  8,  1871, 
a  portion  being  annexed  to  Woon- 
socket.  and  the  remainder  divided 
into  three  towns.  See  Lincoln  and 
North  Smithfield. 

Name  of  Indian  origin.  Taken  from 
Cumberland.  A  portion  of  Smithfield 
was  annexed  to  Woonsocket  March  8, 
1871. 


June  16,  1729 Originally  called  the  "  Narragansett 

country."  Named  King's  Province, 
March  20,  1654.  Boundaries  estab- 

'  lished  Ma}'  21,  1669.  Incorporated 
June,  1729,  as  King's  County,  with 
three  towns  and  same  territory  as  at 
present.  Name  changed  to  Washing* 

j     ton  County,  October  29,  1781. 

August  22,  1738 Taken  from  Westerly. 

March  8,  1742-43 Taken  from  North  Kingstown. 


344 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 


COUNTIES  AND 
TOWNS. 


DATE  OF 

INCORPORATION. 


Hopkinton March  19,  1757 

• 

North  Kingstown . .    October  28,   1674 ... 


South  Kingstown. . 


Richmond. 


Feb'y26,  1722-23.. 


August  18,  1747.... 


Westerly May  14,  1669. 


FROM  WHAT  TAKEN,  ORIGINAL 
NAMES.CHANGES  OF  BOUNDARIES,  &c. 


Taken  from  Westerly. 

First  settlement,  1641.  Incorporated  in 
1674,  under  the  name  of  King's 
Towne,  as  the  seventh  town  in  the 
Colony.  Incorporation  reaffirmed  in 
1679.  Name  changed  to  Rochester 
June  23,  1686.  Name  restored  in 
1689;  see  East  Greenwich.  Kings- 
town, divided  into  North  and  South 
Kingstown,  February.  1722.  The  act 
provided  that  North  Kingstown  should 
be  the  oldest  town. 

See  North  Kingstown.  Pettiquamscut 
settled  January  20,  1657-58. 

Taken  from  Charlestown. 

Original  name  Misquamicut.  Incorpo- 
rated in  May,  1669.  under  the  name  of 
Westerly,  as  the  fifth  town  in  the  Col- 
ony. Name  of  Westerly  changed  to 
Haversham,  June  23,  1686,  but  soon 
restored. 


NOTE. — In  several  cases  the  exact  date  of  the  passage  of  the  act  of  incorporation 
of  towns  cannot  be  ascertained.  In  such  cases  the  date  of  the  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly  at  which  the  act  was  passed  is  given. 


Sotal  Population  of 


3<>lan&, 


FROM  1708  TO  1875. 


TOWNS  AND  DIVISIONS 
OF  THE  STATE. 

'  feS 

U 

So 
i*  y 
-Ji  - 

1708. 

1730. 

1748. 

1755. 

1774. 

1776. 

Barrington,  .... 
Bristol,  

1770 
1747 
1747 

'l747 

1741 
1677 
1741 
1643 

1750 

1856 
1678 
1747 
1743 
1639 
1672 
1638 
1747 

1703 

1806 
1754 
1747 

1862 
1781 
1731 
175!) 
1765 
1862 
1731 
1731 

1703 
16:36 

1738 
1743 
1757 
;1674 
1723 
1747 
1669 

172!) 
1636 

— 

_ 

1,069 
680 

1,080 
925 

601 
1,209 
979 

538 
1,067 
1,005 

Warren,  
BRISTOL  Co.,  .... 

240 

480 

1,223 

1,178 

1,749 

792 
1,044 
766 
1,782 

2,005 

1,178 
1,167 
1,246 
1,911 

2,789 

3,023 
1,663 
1,764 
2,438 

2,610 

2,300 
1,664 
1,653 
2,376 

7,993 

322 
1,302 
860 
5,299 
478 
1,347 
2,091 

Coventry  

East  Greenwich,  .  . 
West  Greenwich,  .  . 
Warwick,  

KENT  Co.,  .  .  .  .  . 

720 
206 

2,203 
208 
628 

3,245 

2,401 
321 

4,640 
290 
813 

6,064 

4,384 

420 
1,152 
680 
6,508 
300 
992 
1,040 

5,502 

517 
1,170 
778 
6,753 
378 
1,363 
1,325 

7,888 

563 
1,232 
881 
9,209 
575 
1,512 
1,956 

Fall  River,  .... 
Jamestown,  .... 
Little  Compton,  .  .  . 
Middletown,  .... 
Newport,  

New  Shoreham,  .  .  . 
Portsmouth,  .... 
Tivertoii,  

NEWPORT  Co.,  .  .  . 

Burrillville,  .... 
Cranston,  .... 

11,092  12,284 

—    1,460 
806  '    1,083 

1,202    1,511 

1,232    1,813 
450,    1,921 

15,928 

1,861 
1,756 

2,945 
1,031 
830 

3,601 
2,888 

11,699 

1,701 
1,686 

2,832 
1,022 
813 

3,289 
2,781 

Cumberland,  .... 
East  Providence,  .  . 
Foster,  

Glocester,  .  .  '  . 

Johnston,  
North  Providence,  .  . 
Pawtucket,  .... 
Scituate,  

Smithfield,  .... 
TOWNS,  Prov.  Co.,  .  . 
PROVIDENCE  CITY, 

Charlestown,  .... 
Exeter,  

1,446 

1,200 
570 

__ 
3,916 

2,105 
1,523, 

1,926 

3,690 
3,452 

1,002 
1,174 

1,935 
1,978 
508 
1,809 

7,788'  14,912 
3,159    4,321 

1.1301    1,821 
1,404    1,864 
—\    1,808 
2,109    2,472 
1,913    2,835 
829    1,257 
2,291  j    1,812 

14,124 
4,355 

1,835 
1,982 
1,845 
2,761 
2,779 
1,204 
1,824 

Hopkinton,  .... 
North  Kingstown,  .  . 
South  Kingstown,  .  . 
Richmond,  
Westerly,  

WASHINGTON  Co.,  .  . 
WHOLE  STATE,  .  .  . 

1,770 
7,181 

5,554 
17,935 

8,406 
32,773 

9,676 
40,414 

13,869 
59,707 

14,230 
55,011 

NOTE.— The  permission  to  use  these  valuable  tables  I  owe  to  Hon.  J.  M.  Adderaan, 
Secretary  of  State. 


346 


HISTORY    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 


TOWNS  AND  DIVISIONS 
OF  THE  STATE. 

1782.      1790. 

. 

1800. 

1810. 

1820. 

1830. 

Barrington,  .... 
Bristol,      

534         683!        650 
1,032      1,406      1,678 
905      1,122|     1,473 

604 

- 
1.77.3 

^634 
I,8Q6 

612 
3,034 
1,800 

Warren  

BRISTOL  Co  •• 
Coventry,  

2.471      3.211 

2,107      2.477 
1,609      1,824 
1,698       _ 

2.112      2,493 

3,801      5,072 

2,423:     2.928 
1.77.-.      1,530 
1.757      1,619 

-  '   . 

5.446 

3,851 
1.519      1,591 
1.927      1,817 

East  Greenwich,    .    . 
West  Greenwich,  .    . 
Warwick,      .    .    .    .    : 

KENT  Co.,     .... 
Fall  River,    .... 

7.526      8,848 

345         507 
1.341      1.542 
-.74         840 
5,530      6,716 
478         682 
1,350      1,560 
1,959      2,453 

M87 

501 
1,577 
913 
6.739 
714 
1,684 

9,834 

504 

1.553 
978 
7,907 
722 
1.795 
2,837 

10,228 

Ml 

1,580 
949 

955 
1.645 

415 
1,378 
915 
8,010 
1,185 

2,905 

Jamestown,  .     .     .     .     ; 
Little  Compton,     .    .    I 
Middle  town,      .     .     . 
Newport,  

New  Shoreham.     .     . 
Portsmouth,  .... 
Tiverton,  . 

NEWPORT  Co.,  .     .     . 

Burrillville,  .... 
Cranston,  

11,677    14,300 
1,589      1,877 

1    *ilfi           1    '»L1 
A,tr±O            l..w*-T 

1,763      2.2t>* 
2.791      4.025 
996      i;320 
698      1,071 

1,628      2.315 
2.217      3,171 

14.845 

2,006 

2.457 
4,009 
1,364 
1,067 

3,130 

16.294 

2!n';i 

2.'310 

l.olti 
1,758 

2,568 
3,828 

15,771 

['!  27  4 
2,653 

2,900 
2.504 

1.542 
2.42il 

16.535 
2,196 



2.115 
3,503 

3.993 

Cumberland,      .    .    .     ! 
East  Providence.    .     . 
Foster  

Glocester,   : 
Johnston  j 

North  Providence.      . 
Pawtucket,    .... 
Scituate,    

Smithfield,    .     .     .     .     ! 

TOWNS,  PROV.  Co.,    . 
PROVIDENCE  CITY,    . 

Charlestown,     .     .     . 
Exeter.      .    .    . 

13,230    18,011 
4,310      6,380 

1,523      2,022 
2,058 
1,735      2.4.I2 
2,328 
2.675      4,131 
1,094      1,760 
2,298 

20,798 

7,6141   10,071 
1.454      1.174 
1.774 

:  : 
• 
1,3681     1.330 
2,329j     1,911 

M 

11.767    16,836 

1.160      1.284 

2     - 
1.777 

-_ 
1.423      1,363 
n       1.915 

Hopkinton,    .... 
North  Kingstown,      .     ' 
South  Kingstown,      .     : 
Richmond,     .... 

Westerlv  

WASHINGTON  Co.. 
WHOLE  STATE,      .     . 

13,133    18,075    16,135 
52,347    68,825    69,122 

14:962 
77,031 

-.-.•-: 

83,059 

15.421 
97,210 

APPENDIX. 


347 


TOWNS  AND  DIVISIONS 
OF  THE  STATE. 

1840. 

1850. 

1860. 

1865. 

1870. 

1875. 

Barrington,   .... 
Bristol,      

549 
3,490 

795 
4,616 

1,000 
5  271 

.  1,028 
4  649 

1,111 
5  302 

1,185 
5  829 

"Warren,    

2,437 

3,103 

2,636 

2,792 

3,008 

4,005 

BRISTOL  Co.,     .    .    . 

Coventry,       .... 
East  Greenwich,    .     . 
West  Greenwich,  .     . 
Warwick,      .... 

6,476 

3,433 
1,509 
1,415 
6,726 

8,514 

3,620 
2,358 
1,350 
7,740 

8,907 

4,247 
2,882 
1,258 
8,916 

8,469 

3,995 
2,400 
1,228 
7,696 

9,421 

4,349 
2,660 
1,133 
10,453 

11,019 

4,580 
3,120 
1,034 
11,614 

KENT  Co.,     .... 

Fall  River,    .... 
Jamestown,  .... 
Little  Compton,     .     . 
Middletown,      .     .     . 
New  Shoreham,     .     . 
Portsmouth,       .     .     . 
Tiverton,       .... 

13,083 

365 
1,327 
891 
1,069 
1,706 
3,183 

15,068 

358 
1,462 
830 
1,262 
1,833 
4,699 

17,303 

3,337 
400 
1,304 
1,012 
1,320 
2,048 
1,927 

15,319 

349 
1,197 
1,019 
1,308 
2,153 
1,973 

18,595 

378 
1,166 
971 
1,113 

2,003 
1,898 

20,348 

488 
1,156 
1,074 
1,147 
1,893 
2,101 

TOWNS,  NEWPORT  Co. 
NEWPORT  CITY,     .     . 

Burrillville,  .... 
Cranston,  

8,541 
8,333 

1,982 
2,901 

10,444 
9,563 

3,538 
4,311 

11,388 
10,508 

4,140 

7,500 

7,999 
12,688 

4,861 
9,177 

7,529 
12,521 

4,674 

4,822 

7,859 
14,028 

5,249 
5,688 

Cumberland,      .     .     . 
East  Providence,    .     . 
Foster,       
Glocester,      .... 
Johnston,      .... 
Lincoln,    

5,225 

2,181 
2,304 
2,477 

6,661 

.1,932 

2,872 
2,937 

8,339 

1,935 
2,427 
3,440 

8,216 
2,172 
1,873 
2,286 
3,436 

3,882 
2,668 
1,630 
2,385 
4,192 
7,889 

5,673 
4,336 
1,543 
2,098 
4,999 
11,565 

North  Providence, 
North  Smithfield,  .     . 
Pawtucket,    .... 
Scituate,    
Smithfield,     .... 
Woonsocket,      .     .     . 

4,207 

4,090 
9,534 

7,680 

4,582 
11,500 

11,818 

4,251 
13,283 

14,553 

5,000 
3,538 
12,315 

20,495 
3,052 
6,619 
3,846 
2,605 
11,527 

1,303 
2,797 
18,464 
4,101 
2,857 
13,576 

TOWNS,  PROV.  Co.,    . 
PROVIDENCE  CITY,     . 

Charlestown,      .     .     . 
Exeter,      

34,901 
23,172 

923 

1,776 

46,013 
41,513 

994 
1,634 

57,133 
50,666 

981 
1,741 

67,427 
54,595 

1,134 
1,498 

80,286 
68,904 

1,119 
1,462 

84,249 
100,675 

1,054 
1,355 

Hopkinton,    .... 
North  Kingstown, 
South  Kingstown, 
Richmond.     .... 

1,726 
2,909 
3,717 
1,361 

2,477 
2,971 
3,807 
1,784 

2,738 
3,104 
4,717 
1,964 

2,512 
3,166 
4,513 
1,830 

2,682 
3,568 
4,493 
2,064 

2,760 
3,505 
4,240 
1,739 

Westerly,       .... 

1,912 

2,763 

3,470 

3,815 

4,709 

5,408 

WASHINGTON  Co., 
WHOLE  STATE,      .    .     ' 

14,324 
108,830 

16,430 
147,545 

18,715 
174,620 

18,468 
184,965 

20,097 
217,353 

20,061 
258,239 

State  Palliation. 


Valuation  of  the  several  towns  and  cities  in  the  State  as  returned  by  the  town  and 
<;ity  clerks  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  October,  1875. 

TOWN  OR  CITY.* 

Eeal  Estate. 

Personal 

Estate. 

Total. 

Rate  of 
Tax  on 
each 
$100.* 

Barrington,  .  -  .     .     . 
Bristol  
Warren,  

$985,505         $509,300      $1,494,805 
3,210,700         1,900,400        5,111,100 
2,052,950         2,115,150         4,168,100 

$0.55 
.78 
.64 

.40 
.50 
.90 
.50 

.50 
.50 
.60 
.77 
2.25 
.58 
.60 

BRISTOL  COUNTY,  .    . 

Coventry,      .... 
East  Greenwich,  .     . 
"West  Greenwich,  .     . 
Warwick,     .... 

KENT  COUNTY,     ,    . 

Jamestown,  .... 
Little  Compton,    .     . 
Middletown,      .     .     . 
Newport,      .... 
New  Shoreham,    .     . 
Portsmouth,     .     .     . 
Tiverton,      .... 

NEWPORT  COUNTY,  . 

Burrillville,      .     .     . 
Cranston,      .... 
Cumberland,     .     .     . 
East  Providence,  .     . 
Foster,      

$6,249,155 

$2,616,300 
.  1,465,402 
362,030 

7,577,500 

$4,524850    $10,774,005 

$1,437,100      $4,053,400 
372,550         1,837,952 
143,140            505,170 
-     2,840,900       10,418,400 

$12,021,232 

$785,300 
830,950 
1,596,000 
20,831,000 
287,384 
1,556,400 
1,262,913 

$4,793,690 

$273,400 
435,600 
398,200 
8,040,200 
45,304 
674,500 
484,285 

$16,814,922 

$1,058,700 
1,266,650 

1,994.200 
28,871,200 
332,688 
2,230,900 
1,747,198 

$27,149,947 

$1,853,600 
5,864,550 
3,671,250 
4,565,700 
535,300 
824,555 
3,686,600 
5,474,350 
803,705 
1,270,550 
12,648,774 
82,862,900 
1,571,300 
1,366,600 
6,979,900 

$10,351,489 

$896,800 
934,200 
2,084,050 
817,800 
148,900 
450,550 
784,900 
1,732,800 
199,500 
966,400 
3,603,656 
39,091,800 
776,600 
728,900 
2,533,370 

$37,501,436 

$2.750,400;           .74 
6,798,750           .50 
5,755,300           .65 
5,383,500            .70 
684,200            .94 
1,275,105            .80 
.       3,871,500            .80 
7,207,150            .80 
1,003,205            .80 
2,236,950            .70 
16,252,430          1.25 
121,954,700,         1.45 
2,347,900           .85 
2,095,500           .85 
9,513,270         1.20 

Glocester  

Johnston,     .... 
Lincoln,   

North  Providence,     . 
North  Smithfield,      . 
Pawtucket,  .    .    .    . 
Providence,  .... 
Scituate,  .     .     .     .     . 

Smithfield,  .... 
Woonsocket,     .     .     . 

PROVIDENCE  Co., 

Charlestown,    .     .     . 
Exeter,    

$133,379,634 

$612,800 
546,860 
1,326,850 
1,869,906 

3,002,490 
1,006,800 
3,113,800 

$55,750,226 

$88,450 
123,580 
438,450 
969,630 
1,458,610 
257,400 
1,379,175 

$189,129,860 

$701,250 
670,440 
1,765,300 
2,839,535 
4,461,100 
1,264,200 
4,492,975 

.70 
.50 
.65 
.52 
.60 
.65 
.60 

Hopkinton,  .... 
North  Kingstown,     . 
South  Kingstown, 
Richmond  
Westerly,      .... 

WASHINGTON  Co.,     . 
WHOLE  STATE,     .     . 

$11,479,505 
$190,279,473 

$4,715,295    $16,194,800 

$80,135,550  $270,415,023 

Including  highway  tax. 


Ofnrjine 


AT    THE    INTERNATIONAL    EXPOSITION. 


THIS  engine  was  furnished  by  George  H.  Corliss,  of  Providence,. 
Rhode  Island,  and  was  especially  designed  for  supplying  motive  power 
at  the  International  Exposition  of  1876.  This  engine  is  of  fourteen 
hundred  horse-power,  but  is  capable  of  doing  the  work  of  twenty-five 
hundred  horses  if  necessary.  With  its  appurtenances  it  weighs  over 
seven  hundred  tons,  and  furnishes  power  to  all  the  machinery  in  the 
building.  Miles  of  shafting  lead  away  from  it  along  the  aisles  from 
end  to  end.  Of  these  are  eight  main  lines  of  shafting,  four  on  each 
side  of  the  central  transept  where  the  engine  stands,  extending  length- 
wise. Seven  have  a  speed  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  revolutions, 
and  one  a  speed  of  two  hundred  and  forty  revolutions  a  minute.  A 
line  of  shafting  is  also  provided  for  carrying  power  into  the  pump 
annex,  and  counter  shafts  are  introduced  into  the  aisles  at  different 
points.  The  power  is  transmitted  by  the  spur-gear  fly-wheel,  thirty 
feet  in  diameter,  weighing  fifty-six  tons;  the  jack-wheel  ten  feet  in 
diameter  on  the  main  shafting,  which  being  run  under  the  floors  to 
the  pulleys,  the  power  is  transmitted  thence  to  the  eight  main  lines  of 
shafting  above  the  floor,  aggregating  more  than  a  mile  in  length,  from 
which  the  machinery  of  the  Exposition  derives  its  power.  The  engine 
makes  thirty-six  revolutions  per  minute,  and  for  driving  them  there 
are  twenty  Corliss  boilers  capable  of  developing  fourteen  hundred 
horse-power,  and  of  standing  a  pressure  of  one  hundred  pounds  to 
the  square  inch.  The  platform  on  which  the  engine  stands  is  breast 
high.  From  this,  on  either  side,  a  long  iron  staircase  mounts  to  the  top 
of  the  A  frames,  where  narrow  walks  with  brass  railings  lead  about 
among  the  moving  masses  aloft  in  the  air.  It  is  five  times  a  man's 
height  from  the  platform  to  the  top  of  the  walking-beam. 

It  is  a  tamed  monster  with  unresistable  power.  To  see  a  man  walk 
calmly  around  among  the  great  beams  and  cranks  is  a  sight  to  make  one 
shiver.  He  caresses  a  polished  crank  of  steel  that  would  crush  him  to 
bits  if  he  should  stop  in  its  path .  He  pats  the  ends  of  the  beams  as  they 
fly  up  and  down  past  him,  and  touches  the  joints  with  his  oiler.  Aside 
from  the  fact  that  the  engine  is  one  of  the  largest  of  its  kind,  it  is  so 
unique  in  construction  and  form  that  it  is  all  new  to  beholders.  It  is 
a  model  of  simplicity  and  picturesqueness. 


Inbtx. 


*  A. 

ADAMS,  JOHN,  98,  224. 
Adams,  Samuel,  98. 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  170, 176. 
Albany  Congress,  176. 
Almy,  Christopher,  110. 
Almy,  William,  272. 
Anabaptists,  140. 
Andros,   Sir    Edmond,   101,   102, 

104,  105, 107,  108,  110. 
Angell,  231. 
Annapolis,  129. 
Annapolis  Royal,  168. 
Anne,  Queen,  136. 
Ann,  Fort,  132. 
Antinomians,  140. 
Anti-Sabbatarians,  140. 
Aquidneck,  15,  17,  19,  38,  62,  70. 

75,  84,  97,  129. 
Arminians,  140. 
Arnold,  225. 
Arnold,  Governor,  80. 
Ashurst,  Sir  Henry,  122. 
Atherton,  Humphrey,  46,  47.  49, 

50,  84,  101,  106,  114. 

B. 

Bailey,  Richard,  80. 

Baptists,  30,  105,  120,  159,  196. 

Barbadoes,  127. 

Barber,  Henry,  248. 

Bartlett,  J.  R.,  286. 

Beaver,  The,  206. 

Beaver  Tail  Light,  173,  246. 

Bellemont,  Lord,  118,  119,  122. 

Berkeley,   G«orge,' 146,  147,  179, 

9Q3 

Block  Island,  55,  56,  112,  121, 125, 

151,  156. 

Bloody  Brook,  72. 
Borden,  John,  70. 


Boston,  2,  3,  4,  7,  17,  22,  31, 69, 73, 
77,  100,  101,  103,  107,  115,  116, 
119,  128,  138,  144,  149,  152,  154, 
203,  211,  219,  228,  236. 

Boston  Port  Bill,  211,  215. 

Bowen,  Ephraim,  208. 

Bowler,  Metcalf,  192,  206. 

Bradford,  (printer,)  129. 

Bradford,  William,  220. 

Brenton,  Jahleel,  117. 

Brenton's  Point,  245,  246. 

Breton,  Cape,  170. 

Bridge,  Rev.  Christopher,  121. 

Bridgham,  Samuel  W.,  275. 

Brinley,  Francis,  108. 

Bristol,  38,  168,  230. 

Bristol,  County  of,  11. 

Bristol,  Town  of,  70,  144, 224,  227, 
235,  249. 

Brookfield,  71. 

Brown,  John,  196,  274. 

Brown,  Moses,  272. 

Brown,  Smith,  272. 

Brown  University,  147,  196. 

Bucklin,  Joseph,  208. 

Bull,  Henry,  110,  111. 

Bunker  Hill,  221,  223. 

C. 

Callender,  John,  173. 
Calvinists,  140. 
Cambridge,  98. 
Canada,  129,  130, 170. 
Canonchet,  75,  76. 
Canonicus,  11,  12,  20,  28. 
Careless,  Thomas,  199. 
Carolina  South,  135,  243. 
Carr,  Sir  Robert,  57,  59. 
Carteret,  Lord,  146. 
Carthagena,  157. 
Cart wright  George,  57. 


352 


INDEX. 


Charnplin  farm,  266. 

Charles  I.,  47. 

Charles  II.,  39,  41,  47,  51,  95,  98, 
277. 

Charlestown,  171. 

Charter  House,  2. 

Chepachet,  281. 

Church,  Benjamin,  70,  76. 

Church's  Harbor,  188. 

Clarke,  Jeremy,  25. 

Clarke,  John,  18,  30, 31, 32,  34, 40, 
42,  47,  48,  49,  50,  51,  55,  56,  57, 
61,  63,  64,  65,  85,  124,  141,  277, 
287. 

Clarke,  Walter,  99,  104. 

Clawson,  John,  92. 

Coddington,  Nathaniel,  117. 

Coddington,  William,  18,  25,  30, 
31,  32,  37,  87. 

Coggeshall,  John,  25,  94. 

Coke,  Sir  Edward,  2. 

Collins,  Governor,  263. 

Conanicut,  Island  of,  11,  20. 

Congregationalists,  120,  175. 

Connecticut,  22,  30,  45,  46,  47,  48, 
49,  50,  51,  57,  58,  61,  64,  65,  66, 
72,  77,  79,  80,  81,  84,  86,  96,  100, 
104,  105,  106.  109,  114,  122,  124, 
130,  138,  152,  163,  171,  186.  242. 
243,  261. 

Connecticut  River,  71. 

Cook,  Colonel,  230. 

Cooke,  Esek,  225. 

Cooke,  Nicholas,  198, 220, 225, 235, 
254. 

Copley,  147. 

Cornberry,  Lord,  125. 

Coweset,  79,  81. 

Coweset  Bay,  93,  229. 

Cranston,  197. 

Cranston,  John,  156,  166. 

Cranston,  Samuel,  117,  118,  119, 
122,  124,  135,  141. 

Cranfield,  96,  97. 

Crary,  Colonel,  244. 

Cromwell,  39. 

Cromwell,  Richard,  39. 

Culpepper,  Lord,  106. 

Cumberland,  168. 

Cygnet,  The,  191. 

D. 

Davenport.  Captain,  73. 
Dedford,  101. 
Deerfield,  71. 
Delaware,  11,  261. 
D'Estaing,  236,  237,  238,  239. 
Dexter  Asylum,  275. 


Dexter,  Ebenezer  Knight,  27-V 
Dickinson,  John,  19!>. 
Dorr  Rebellion,  279,  282. 
Dorr,  Thomas  Wilson,  280,  281. 
Douglass,  David,  180. 
Downer,  Silas,  199. 
Duddingston,    Lieutenant,    206, 

208. 

Dudley,  100,  108,  122.  124,  125. 
Dudley,  Charles,  22*  i. 
Durfee.  Colonel  Joseph.  2:^i. 
Dutch  Island,  158. 
Dyer,  William,  25. 

E. 

Eastern,  John,  111. 

Edwards,  Mr.,  50.   • 

Edwards,  Rev.  Morgan,  196. 

Eliot,  John,  58,  5!»,  99. 

Ellery,  William,  166,  253. 

Endicott,  John.  .">. 

England,  7,  22.  23,  29,  30,  31,  32, 
:V7.  :i!i.  47,  64,  82,  83,  88,  92,  95, 
102,  103,  106,  107,  109,  110,  119, 
127,  128,  131,  138,  141,  143,  149, 
153,  156,  157. 

England,  Church  of,  2,  :i.  103,  153. 

Episcopalians,  120,  140.  175. 

Exeter,  163,  196. 

Exposition,  Centenary,  286. 


Fall  River,  236. 

Familists,  140. 

Famme  Goose  Bay,  165. 

Farmer's  Letters,  197,  199. 

Fellowship  Club,  176. 

Fitch,  Governor,  192. 
!   Flagg,  Major  Ebenezer.  251. 
'   Fones,  Captain,  165. 
;  Fothergill,  Samuel.  159. 
i  France,  64,  86,  110,  159. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  176,  190,  213, 
214.  261. 

Franklin,  James,  144,  147. 

Freemasonry,  181. 

Freetown,  121. 

French  Residents,  178. 

Frenchtown,  107,  111. 


Gage,  General,  215. 
Galloway,  Mr.,  130. 
Gardiner's  Island,  250. 
Gaspee,  194.  206,  207,  211,  212.  221. 
George  I.,  135,  142. 


INDEX. 


'353 


George  II.,  143,  142. 

George,  Fort,  15(5,  159,  216,  223. 

Goat  Island,  123. 

Goddard,  William,  180,  214,  222. 

Godfrey.  John,  112. 

Goffe,  72. 

Gorton.  Samuel,  18,  19,  20,  22,  29, 

85. 

Goulding,  Roger,  110. 
Greene,  Christopher,  218,  226,  231, 

234,  250. 

Greene,  Governor,  248. 
Greene,  James,  102. 
Greene,  John,  (51,  82,  94,  97,  100, 

103,  10(5,  111,  114,  115,  119,  121. 
Greene,  Nathanael,  218,  219,  220, 

23(5,  239.  250. 

Greene,  William,  158,  235. 
Greenwich,  233, 
Greenwich,  East,  79,  82,  88,  101, 

151,   1(53,  174,  192,212,215,218, 

244,  245,  25(5,  258,  282. 
Greenwich.  West,   132,   1(53,  174, 

226. 
Gregorian  Calendar,  175. 

H. 

Hadley,  71. 
Hall,  Benoni.  206. 
Hamilton,  2(51. 
Hancock,  John,  23(5. 
Hannah,  The  Sloop,  207. 
Harris,  Thomas,  37. 
Harris.  William.  33,  82,  85,  8(5. 
Hartford,  35,  76,  79,  105. 
Hartford  Convention,  276. 
Harvard  College,  121 1 
Hatrield,  72. 
Haversham,  101. 
Hays,  246, 

Ha/ard's.  Isaac  P.,  farm,  267. 
Hazard's,  Robert,  farm,  26(5. 
Helme,  James,  206. 
Henry,  Patrick,  191. 
Herendeen,  92. 
Hill,  David,  205,  20(5. 
Hill,  Lieutenant,  193. 
Hillsborough,  Lord,  201. 
Hog  Island,  38. 
Holden,  Randall,  25,  82,  97. 
Holland,  32,  (54,  95,  149. 
Holmes,  Ohadiah,  -V). 
Honeyman's  Hill,  121. 
Honeyman,  James,  121. 
Hooker,  Dr.,  105. 
Hope  Bay,  Mount,  70. 
Hope  Island,  22(5,  254. 
Hope,  Mount,  11.  (59.  70.  7(5. 

23 


Hopkins,  Captain  William,  157. 
Hopkins,  Samuel,  204. 
Hopkins,  Stephen,  106,  176,  178, 

179,  180,  188,  198,  200,  20(5,  212r 

216,  224,  233,  273. 
Hopkinton,  182. 
Howard,  Martin,  Jr.,  17(5. 
Howell,  253. 
Rowland,  John,  273. 
Hutchinson,  Anna,  17. 
Hutchinson,  Captain,  49. 
Hutchinson,  Governor,  171,  205. 
Hutchinson  Letters,  213. 
Huguenots,  107.  135. 


Jackson,  Daniel,  259. 

James,  Fort,  (52. 

James  II.,  98,  100,  105,  10(5,  107. 

Jamestown,  88,  158. 

Jenckes,   Joseph,   131,   142,    148, 

152. 

Jews,  98,  256. 
Johnson,  Captain,  73. 
Johnston,  182. 
Johnston,  Augustus,  191. 
Judith,  Point,  237. 

K. 

Katy,  The,  222. 

Keeler,  Captain,  212. 

Kent  County,  58,  174. 

Kentish  Guards,  218. 

Kidd,  Captain,  119. 

King,  Governor,  281. 

King's  Province,  58.  59,  79,80,96, 

101,  104,  106.  107,  122,  252. 
Kingston,  73,  88,  93,  101,  121.  139. 
Kingstown,  North,  1(53, 
Kingstown,  South,  151,  247,  258. 

L. 

Lafayette,  23(5,  239,  240,  248. 
Languedoc,  The,  238. 
Lee,  General,  22(5,  233. 
LeFavour,  Heber.  284. 
Leister,  112. 
Lenthall,  Robert,  54. 
Lexington,  219. 
Liberty,  The  Sloop,  202. 
Lincoln,  President,  282. 
Lindsey,  Captain,  207. 
Little  Compton,  121,  127.  168. 
Lockman,  Leonard,  1(54. 
London.  109. 


354 


INDEX. 


Long  Island  62. 

Long  Island,  Indians  of,  35. 

Lopez,  240. 

Lopez,  Moses,  175. 

Louisburg,  1(55,  166,  170. 

Lovelace,  Governor,  62. 

Lutherans,  140. 

Lyndon,  Josias,  198. 

Lynn,  30. 

Lyon.  The  Ship,  2. 

M. 

Madison,  261. 

Maidstone,193. 

Maine,  61,  75. 

Malmedy,  233. 

Manhattan.  32. 

Marchant,  205.  254. 

Martha's  Vineyard,  62. 

Martindale,  Major,  124. 

Massachusetts  Bay,  Colony  of,  3. 
4,  (5,  7,  13.  14.  15,  17,  18,  1!».  20. 
21.  22,  29.  30,  35,  36,  38,  39.  42. 
44,  45,  46,  50,  53,  55,  57,  58,  61, 
64,  66,  70,  72,  75,  84,  87,  96,  100, 
102,  105,  107,  109,  114,  118,  122, 
125,  126,  133,  l:'4.  144.  152,  161, 
171,  179,  186,  212,  254,  261. 

Massasoit,  5,  8. 11,  12,  66. 

Mather,  Cotton,  140. 

Mather,  Dr.  Increase,  109. 

Maverick,  Samuel,  57. 

Mayflower,  13. 

Miantonomi,  5,  11.  20,  •_'•_'. 

Middletown,  163. 

Milton,  John,  16. 

Mohegans,  21,  22,  47,  76. 

Montague,  Admiral.  207. 

Mooshausick  Hill,  65. 

Mooshausick  River.  !>.  10.  12.  13. 
97,  183,  184. 

Moravian  Mission.  174. 


Namcook,  46. 

Nantasket  Roads.  2.  129. 

Nantiicket,  62. 

Narragansett.  31.  45.  50.  58.  79,  SO. 

84,  89,  96,  106,  115.  124.  12*.  175. 
Narragausett  Bay.  7.  15.  19,   2:;, 

45,  46,  48,  58,  62,  70,  80,  81.  <!<>. 

150,227.  'J:'ti.  241.  254. 
Narragansett  River.  48.  51. 
Narragansetts.  The.  11.  20.  21.  22, 

28,  35,  4ti.  72.  73.  75. 
Neale,  Thomas,  116. 
Newburyport,  236. 


New  England,  23,  40.  45,  53,  58, 
75,  77,  88,  95,  96, 98, 100, 105, 107, 

114,  118,  131,  133..  145.  154,  159. 
New  Haven.  22. 

New  Jersey,  11, 105. 

New  London,  112. 

New  Netherlands.  <»2. 

Newport,  18.  25.  27.  29.  36,  40,  41, 
43,  44,  53.  61,  64.  65.  75,  88,  90, 
104,  108,112,121.  123.  124,126, 
129. 130,  133,  136,  140,  142,  143, 
144.  145,  147,  150.  154,157,  159, 
163,  172.  174,  179, 189,  191,  195, 
199,  203,  204.  207.  215,  2is.  222, 
22:;.  224.  225.  220.  227.  2: 15.  236, 
237,  238,  24:;.  245.  247.  250.  253. 
255,  259..  2(U,  273.  275,  278. 

Newport  Artillery,  164. 

Newport  Marine  Society,  176. 

Newport  Mercury,  180. '24s. 

New  York,  11.  15.  57.  02.  105, 112, 

115,  119,  125.  152,  157.  202,  249. 
Niantics,  76,  128. 

Nichols,  Colonel  Richard.  57. 
Niles,  Samuel,  121. 
Ninigret,  35,  128,  137. 
Nipmucks,  71. 
Norris,  Matthew,  155.          i 

'  O. 

Oleron,  laws  of.  25. 
Olney.  Colonel.  231.  2:U. 
Olney's  Tavern.  199. 
Olneys,  The,  231. 
Olney,  Thomas,  37. 
Otis.  James.  89,  98. 

"      P, 

Paine,  John,  62. 
Paine,  Thomas,  112. 
Pappoosquash  Point,  249. 
Paris,  Peace  of,  177. 
Partridge,  Richard.  15S,  181. 
Patience,  Island  of.  19. 
Pawcatuck.  112.  114,  132. 
Pawcatuck  River.  49,  51.  101. 
Pawtucket.  132. 
Pawtuxet  River,  162.  197. 
Pawtuxet.   12,  29.  38,  45,  70.  82. 

83.  96. 

Pedobaptists.  140'. 
Penn,  William.  125. 
Pennsylvania.  2iil. 
Peoples'  Constitution.  279. 
Pequots,  20,  21.  22.  55.  00.  76. 
,   Perry.  Oliver  H..  276. 
Pettaquamscott  Pond.  105. 
Philadelphia.  220. 


INDEX. 


355 


Philip,  King,  68,  69,  70,  71,  75, 
76,  77. 

Philip's,  Kins:,  War,  (36,  89,  120. 

Phipps,  Sir  William.  114. 

Pigot,  Sir  Robert,  237,  238. 

Pitt,  William,  177. 

Plainfield,  132. 

Plymouth,  Colony  of,  3,  4,  5,  9, 
13,  14.  1.5,  22,  57,  61,  67,  69,  70, 
72,  76,  77,  84,  97,  114,  126,  2:36. 

Pocasset,  17,  19,  71. 

Port  Royal,  129.  131.  166. 

Portsmouth,  24,  25,  27,  29,  41,  44, 
63,  75.  88,  llti,  124,  135,  136,  144, 
l".fi,  158,  193. 

Portsmouth  Grove,  2H5. 

Potter,  Simeon,  218. 

Potter,  Stephen,  206. 

Potowomut,  93,101,256. 

Potowomut  River,  1:36. 

Presbyterians,  140. 

Prospect  Hill,  22:'-. 

Proud,  John,  159. 

Providence,  10,  12,  13,  14.  16,  17, 
18,  19,  25,  26.  27.  29,  31,  33,  39, 
41,  43,  44,  51,  64,  65,  75,  78,  82, 
83,  88,  90,  94,  120,  130,  135,  136, 
148,  151,  153,  172,  174,  195,  199, 
200,201,203,207,  209,  216,  218, 
219,  220.  223.  224,  229,  230,  233, 
249,  253,  25S,  262,  264,  271.  273, 
275,  278,  279,  280. 

Providence  Bank,  274. 

Providence  Court  House,  179. 

Providence  Cove,  188. 

Providence  Gazette  and  Country 
Journal,  180,  214. 

Providence  Institution  for  Sav. 
ings,  274. 

Providence  Library  Association. 
171. 

Providence  Plantations,  23. 24,  40, 
232. 

Prudence  Island,  62,  227. 

Puritans,  2,  3,  105,  120. 

Q. 

Quakers,  39,  76,  103,  105,  120,  140, 

148.  152,  158,  159,  181. 
Quebec.  226. 
Quidnesset,  46. 
Quincy.  Josiah,  98. 

R. 

Randolph,  96,  97,  100,  104,  119. 
Ranters,  140. 
Ray,  Simon,  55. 


Redwood,  Abraham,  200. 

Kedwood  Library.  147,  171,  200, 
250 

Rehoiboth,  248. 

Reid,  Captain  William,  202, 

Rhode  Island,  7,  11,  17,  18,  19,  22, 
29,  30,  32,  34,  38,  39,  40,  42,  44, 
45,  46,  47,  48,  53,  55,  56,  57,  58, 
59,  60,  61,  62,  63,  64,  66,  70,  71, 
73,  75,  76,  77,  79,  80, 81, 84,  86, 87, 
92,  95,  96,  97,  98,  100,  102,  103, 
104,  105,  108,  108,  109,  110,  111, 
112.  113,  114,  115,  116,  117,  119, 
120,  122,  124,  125,  126,  127,  129, 
134,  i:35,  138,  144,  152,  156,  157, 
158,  160,  161,  162,  163,  166,  168, 
171,  177,  181,  201,  205,  206,  211, 
212,  213,  227,  228,  231,  232,  235, 
242,  247,  248,  250,  255,  256,  359, 
269,  270,  271,  273,  274,  275,  276, 
277,  279,  281,  282,  283,  285,  286, 
287. 

Rhode  Island  Army  of  Observa- 
tion, 221,  223. 

Rhode  Island,  Island  of,  15. 

Riveiras,  246. 

Robinson,  John,  3. 

Rochambeau,  249,  250. 

Rochester,  101. 

Rogers,  James,  175. 

Roman  Catholics,  140,  150,  256. 

Rome,  George,  213,  224. 

Rose,  Frigate,  221. 

Roxbury,  73. 

Ryswick,  Treaty  of,  117,  118,  123. 

S. 

Sabbatarians,  81,  120. 

Salem,  4,  5,  7,  8,  85,  236. 

Sandford,  Peleg,  80,  117. 

Sanford,  John,  25. 

Say  and  Seal,  Lord,  47. 

Scituate,  178,  ir.s. 

Scituate  Furnace  Company,  200. 

Scott,  John,  49, 50. 

Seekonk,  16. 

Seekonk  River,  8,  9. 

Senegal,  199. 

Separatists,  105. 

Sequasson,  22. 

Shawomut,  19,  20,  29. 

Sheffield,  Captain  Joseph,  157. 

Sherwood  Joseph,  181,  205. 

Shoreham,  New,  56,  88,  156. 

Simpson,  Joseph,  216. 

Skelton,  Mr.,  4,  5. 

Slate  Rock,  9. 

Slater,  Samuel,  272. 


356 


INDEX. 


Smibert,  147. 
Socinians,  140. 
Spain,  86,  156,  159. 
Sparker,  Henry,  199. 
Spencer,  General,  236. 
Springfield,  72. 
Stamper's  Hill,  39. 
Stanton  Farm,  266. 
Stanwix,  Fort,  188. 
Star  Chamber,  2. 
Stiles,  Ezra,  200,  203. 
Stirling,  Earl  of.  62. 
Stonington,  76. 
Sullivan,  2:56.  2: '.7.  2:i9. 
Sutton  Hospital,  2. 
Swanzey,  6<i. 

T. 

Talbot,  Silas,  242. 

Tartar,  Ship,  155,  162,  165. 

Taunton  River,  70. . 

Taylor,  George,  153. 

Ternay,  249,  250. 

Tew,  Henry,  134. 

Thayer,  Simeon.  226,  231. 

Theatres  in  Rhode  Island,  180. 

Thurston,  150. 

Tiverton,  71,   121,   168,  230,  236. 

249. 

Tiverton  Heights,  229. 
Trinity  Church,  200,  250. 
Tourosj-  246. 
Turpin,  William,  153. 


Uncas,  22. 

Underbill,  Captain,  7. 

United  Colonies,  22,  34,  35,  39,  46, 

50. 
Utrecht,  Treaty  of,  131. 

V. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,  17,  20,  34. 
Varnum,  General,  233,  234,  254. 
Varnum.  James  M.,  218. 
Venus,  Transit  of,  200. 
Verin,  Joshua,  14. 
Virginia,  110,  116. 

W. 

Wallace,  Sir  James,  221.  223.  224. 

227. 

Walpole,  189. 
Walpole,.  Sir  Robert,  143. 
Wamponoags,  11,  12,  66. 
Wamsutta,  67. 


Wanasquatucket,  12. 

Wanton,  Captain  John,  126,  153, 

158. 
Wanton.   Captain   William.  124, 

152. 
Wanton,   Governor,  220,  221.  224, 

227. 

War  <>f  Independence,  202. 
Ward,  Henry.  192. 
Ward.  Major.  234. 
Ward.  Richard.  15s.  11*1.  178.  179, 

188,  192.  195.  19S.  216. 
Ward.  Samuel,  226.  22*.  •_•:;!. 
Warren,  98,  168,  227.  2:!6. 
Warren  Association  of    Baptist 

Churches.  196. 
Warwick,  Colony  of.   15.  2".i.  24, 

26,  27.  :si.  ."4.  41.  4M.  44.  58,  65, 

75,  76,  79,  82,  83,  88,  93,  94,  96, 

101,  111.  i:V2.  16."..  174. 
Warwick.  Earl  of.  2:;. 
Warwick  Neck.  229. 
Washington,  248.  2til.  274. 
Washington,  The.  222. 
Waumaion,  92. 
\V(-st.  147. 

West.  General.  227.  230. 
West   Indies.    12*.    149.    153.   158, 

271. 
\V<-st «-rly.    sx.    mi.    121.    124    138, 

144.  151.  1S2.215. 
Weybosset  Bridge,  165,  188. 
What  Cheer  Square.  9. 
Whipple,  Captain  Abraham.  208, 

222.  226. 

Whipple  Hall,  2<Xi. 
Whipple,  Joseph.  175. 
Whitefield,  Governor.  159. 
Wickford.  74.  121. 
Willard.  Captain,  36. 
William  and  Man,-.  109,  110. 
Williams.  Roger.  2.  4.  6,   7,  8,  9, 

10,  11,  12,  13,  14.  15.   10.  17,  18, 

19.20,21.22.23.  25.  27.   39,    31, 

32,  33,  34.  35.  36'.  37.  38.  42,  45, 

46,  58,  59.  r,2.  63,  64.  65.  75,  82, 

85,86,  92,  141,  1S4.  256.  277,  287. 
Winslow,  29. 
Winslow,  Major,  67. 
Winthrop,  John.   46.   47,  49,  51, 

62.  124. 
Wolf,  77. 

Wonumytoinoni  Hill,  65. 
Worcester.  179. 

Y. 

Yale  College.  147. 
Yremassee  War,  135. 
York,  Duke  of,  (>2. 


WORKS  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR, 


HISTORICAL  STUDIES. 

One  vol.,  i2mo.,  1850. 

BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDIES. 

One  vol.,  12010.,  1860. 


NATHANAEL  GREENE. 

AN  EXAMINATION  OF  SOME  PASSAGES  IN  THE  14TH 
VOLUME  OF  MR.  BANCROFTS  "  HISTORY  OF  THE 
UNITED"  STATES. 

Eight  vo.,  1866. 


THE  LIFE  OF  NATHANAEL  GREENE, 

MAJOR-GENERAL  IN  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 
Three  vols..  8vo.,  1871. 


THE  GERMAN  ELEMENT  IN  THE  WAR 
OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

One  vol.,  121110.,  1876. 


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